Flash Fire
by Tactition101
Summary: Minato's Hirashin was just one big prank. It was actually his bloodline limit that allowed him to travel so fast. Watch what happens when Naruto unlocks it at an early age and becomes even faster, giving rise to the Flash Fire. Warning, incredibly fast Naruto. Update time frame is roughly once every eight weeks
1. Joining The Slipstream

The Flash Fire

Summary: Minato's Hirashine was just one big prank. His speed was actually a blood line. Naruto awakens it at an early age and becomes the Flash Fire, capable of giving people burns just by running his fingers across someone's skin as he passes them at speeds that make him seem to turn invisible even to the Sharingan.

Need To Know: Naruto prevents damaging his hands from friction burns by running chakra through them. By the time the Rookie 9 graduates, Naruto is already a Jounin, which is why he fails the Gennin exam. It makes no sense to put an actual Jounin on a Gennin team. Iruka already knows of Naruto's status since he sometimes has to miss days at the academy to go on missions. The excuse is usually that he is just skipping. The only reason why Naruto is not an official Jounin before he 'graduates' is that Sarutobi is trying to keep Naruto hidden from the Village Hidden in the Rock for as long as possible. Naruto's code name is Kitsune but as he starts accepting missions and actually taking credit for them he will begin being called the Flash Fire. Before graduation Naruto has only been sent on missions inside the Land of Fire. He does know the shadow clone jutsu since the Hokage felt that he should know it so that he has a clone jutsu, but he rarely uses it in a fight due to his speed, relying on it more for recon purposes. As for the tri kunai that Minato used, it is more of a beacon to tell Minato where he needs to go when he activates his bloodline.

1. Joining The Slipstream

Five Years After Kyubi Attack, October Tenth, Hidden Leaf Village

A festival was currently underway in the marketplace of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Unfortunately, not everyone was currently enjoying it. Halfway across the city, a mob was currently chasing a blond five year old screaming out threats as the members of the mob began catching up to the child.

'Why are they doing this? What have I ever done to them?' the blond thought as he kept running.

As the crowd got closer, a shinobi threw a kunai at the blond barley missing the child as he stumbled on a piece of loose pavement.

'They're actually trying to kill me!' The blond thought with wide eyes. As he thought this, something unlocked inside of his body before he suddenly felt as he if he could go much faster than he currently was. Not caring where the feeling came from, the blond focused on it and shot away from the mean adults leaving a dust trail to their shock.

The blond ran for a while before coming upon the main gate of the village and stopped running and began panting ignoring the shocked looks of the guards at the gate from seeing someone so young running so fast.

As he was hunched over with his hands on his knees, the boy thought 'I don't know what just happened, but I'm glad it did.'

Right as he finished that thought, the blonde's eyes rolled upwards before he collapsed. As he fell, one of the guards rushed over and caught the boy.

Turning to his partner he said "I'm taking him to the Hokage." Getting a nod from the other, he put the blond on his back and began roof hopping to a tower in the distance.

Naruto's Mindscape

Naruto woke up to find himself in the middle of an intersection in a sewer. Looking around he thought 'Great, they still caught me and dumped my body in a sewer when they were done. Now how do I get out of here?'

That was when Naruto noticed a sound. It wasn't a dripping sound like what you would expect in places like a sewer, although there was that. No, it sounded more like a whooshing sound. If Naruto had to describe it, he would say it sounded like some kind of a giant breathing. Naruto looked down the hall that the breathing sound seemed to come from and shrugged.

"Might as well go check it out. I've got nothing better to do down here." Naruto said to himself before he began walking down the corridor. A short time later the hall opened into a huge room with bars at the end that formed a pair of truly massive doors.

As he entered and began walking towards the door, a voice called out stopping him in his tracks **"So my jailer finally decides to come see me."**

Naruto shivered as he heard the voice. Don't ask him how, but he felt like the voice would scare the crap out of anyone who heard it.

A large growling sound filled the chamber before the voice spoke again. **"Child, come closer."**

Naruto shook his head and said "No offense whoever you are, but I'm not quite sure I want to."

There was a loud roar before what could only be described as large claws appeared between the bars slamming on the ground about ten feet in front of the terrified blond who had fallen on his butt with a shout.

More growling sounded again as the claws withdrew before Naruto heard **"Curse this seal! If it weren't for that damnable piece of paper I would devour you!"**

Hearing that he was safe, although not sure how a piece of paper could hold something that had claws that big at bay, the blonde stood up and called out "Who are you?"

Dark chuckling was his answer before the blond saw a shape take form in the darkness. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw nine tails waving in the air. Falling back on his butt again he started chanting "I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm so dead."

The revealed fox roared again and said **"Shut up you insect! You're not dead, so stop your useless blabbering!"**

Naruto shook his head and said "I've got to be dead! The Fourth killed you!"

"**Foolish mortal! No mere mortal could ever kill me! The only thing that pitiful human could do was seal me inside you pathetic brat! But mark my words, as soon as I can, I'm getting out of this rotten cage and on my way out I'll devour you!"**

Naruto's face turned from a look of fear to a look of confusion. "What do you mean sealed you inside me?"

The fox began chuckling darkly and said **"Tell me kit, have you ever wondered why everybody in that god forsaken village of yours hates you?"**

Naruto nodded before the fox continued **"That's because that mortal who you call the Fourth sealed me inside you. You aren't dead, this is your mind!"**

The blonde's eyes widened s he tried to process what he was hearing. Then he got angry as everything sunk into his mind as he remembered all the beatings he had received in his short life as well as all of the names he had been called.

Standing back up he yelled "You mean to tell me you're the reason my life has been so bad? Why the hell did you even come here and attack us? Huh? Answer me!"

The Kyubi roared again. The roar was so loud it actually sent the blond flying for a few feet.

"**Do not presume to command me you insect! I may be imprisoned here, but that does not make me your slave! And as for why I attacked your village, if you must know, I got bored so I went to have some fun! NOW GET OUT!"**

A wave of red energy rushed out of the cage and slammed into the blond forcing him out of the room and out of his mind.

Hokage Tower: Hokage's Office

As Naruto came to, he heard two voices talking.

"I swear Lord Hokage, he had been going Jounin level speeds before he stopped. And then once he got to the gate he just fell over out like a light."

"I see. While I admit that it is hard to believe, why don't we ask Naruto what happened. He's seems to be waking up now."

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a familiar office on a couch. As he sat up, the man that Naruto had begun to see as a grandfather came up to the couch as the gate guard from before hung back.

Kneeling down in front of the blond, the Hokage gave his grandfatherly smile and said "You gave us a bit of a worry Naruto. How do you feel?"

Naruto groaned before saying "Besides the fact that my legs feel like I've been running for days, I feel fine Old Man."

Said old man nodded and said "Speaking of running Naruto, Kotetsu here said that you had ran to the gate at pretty fast speeds. Do you mind telling me what happened?"

Naruto shrugged and said "I don't know. One moment I'm running for my life from another mob, the next a kunai nearly hits me and I felt like I could run faster than anyone in the village. I just focused on that feeling and the next thing I know I'm at the gates trying to catch my breath."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow and thought 'Did he unlock his bloodline? I thought that wasn't supposed to happen until he was sixteen. It must have been because of the kunai being thrown at him.'

The old man was brought out of his thoughts by a hesitant voice saying "Old Man?"

The Hokage looked at Naruto who was looking at him like he was trying to figure out if he should keep speaking.

"Yes Naruto? Was there something else you need to tell me?"

Naruto nodded slowly and said in an unsure voice "Well you see, after I got to the gate, I ended up passing out and woke up in some kind of a sewer. I ended up meeting the Kyubi." Naruto frowned as Sarutobi and Kotetsu's eyes widened before continuing "At least I think I did. That was one hell of a dream if I didn't. It said something about being sealed inside me and us being in my mind at the time."

Sarutobi sighed as he felt a headache as big as the Hokage Monument coming on. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he said "Kotetsu, you are dismissed. I don't believe I have to tell you to keep what you have heard in this office to yourself. The last thing we need right now is anyone else learning that Naruto has talked to the Kyubi."

The guard nodded and walked out of the office closing the door on his way out.

Sarutobi then looked back at Naruto and said "Naruto, there's a lot we need to talk about. First off, I'm afraid that that wasn't a dream. Unfortunately nothing we could do could kill the Kyubi. It was a form of solid chakra. Therefore, the only thing the Fourth could do was seal it inside of you, giving his live in exchange." Naruto was wide eyed as Sarutobi continued "I was hoping that you wouldn't find out about that until you were older, but I guess there's nothing I can do about that now. Either way, we have something else that is possibly even more important to discuss. You remember that feeling of being able to run so fast that you talked about?"

Naruto nodded and Sarutobi took out his pipe and stuffed it with tobacco before using a small fire jutsu to ignite it and took a deep draw to steady himself before saying "That felling was your bloodline limit activating itself."

Naruto's eyes widened as Sarutobi continued saying "It wasn't supposed to activate until you were sixteen but it seems that your near death experience unlocked it early. I was going to tell you about your parents then, and to be completely honest with you, I still want to wait for a while before I do. But your father was adamant about me telling you when your bloodline activated."

Naruto frowned and said "Why did you want to wait? You told me that you couldn't find anything about them."

Sarutobi sighed again and said "Naruto, you have to understand that both of your parents had many enemies, and if any of them ever learned that you were their child, they would stop at nothing to harm you in order to get revenge. They might even kill you. So I'm going to have to ask you to tell absolutely no one what I'm about to tell you. Understand?"

Naruto looked down and nodded. Sarutobi nodded as well and said "The first thing I suppose I should tell you about is your bloodline. It doesn't actually have an official name, but your father called it the slipstream."

7 Years Later, Hidden Leaf Village Main Gate

Kotetsu and his partner Izumo were lounging inside the gate guard's booth with no one in sight when they heard a voice say "Do you guys ever stay awake you're whole shift? If I didn't know any better, I would say you two are being paid to sleep."

The two looked up and saw a twelve year old blonde in a regular shinobi outfit with a pack over his shoulder signing the check in sheet.

Kotetsu smirked and said "Ah, you're just jealous that you don't have as easy a job as we do Kitsune."

Said shinobi simply smirked and shook his head before saying "Whatever." before seeming to disappear like he was never there.

Izumo shook his head and said "No matter how many times I see him do that, it still weird's me out to see him just disappear like that."

Kotetsu merely chuckled with a "yeah" before placing his head back on the booth's counter and went back to sleep.

Naruto reappeared at the door of his apartment and pulled out a set of keys before finding the right one and placing it inside the door's lock.

As he turned the key he thought 'I'm so glad no one lives up here with me. No awkward questions to answer if I ever just appear in front of someone.'

Once the door was unlocked, Naruto walked in and closed the door before heading to his room and putting the pack into his closet after pulling a scroll out of one of the side pockets. Naruto then grabbed an orange jumpsuit and changed into it before hanging his previous outfit in the back of the closet. Untying his headband, he then opened a secret compartment and place it in before shutting it. Closing the closet door, Naruto walked back out of his apartment and locked the door before disappearing again.

Hokage Tower :Hokage's Office

Sarutobi was currently doing every kage's enemy. As he signed another form and reached for another from the large pile of paperwork on his desk he said "I take it your mission was a success."

Naruto nodded from where he was standing in front of the desk and said "Yes sir. No problems eliminating the bandits. Overall it was a smooth in and out operation. My report has the specifics on what was stolen and everything else."

As Naruto spoke he placed the scroll on the desk and Sarutobi nodded before lightly muttering about there being even more paperwork and that his successor must have used his bloodline limit to get done with it so easily.

Naruto smiled when he heard this and said "You know old man, I think I figured out on the way back how he actually did it so fast. And it wasn't his bloodline either."

Sarutobi's eyes widened and he said "Really? How?"

Naruto simply made a cross shape with his hands and after a moment Sarutobi's eyes widened further before he began banging his head on his desk saying "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"

The door to the office opened and Sarutobi's secretary poked her head in and said "Sir, is everything all right?"

Naruto turned around as Sarutobi raised his head that now had a red mark on his forehead and said "Yeah Mrs. Reinas, everything's all right. The Old Man just realized something that he should have figured out a long time ago."

Mrs. Reinas nodded not questioning how Naruto had got in without her noticing having stopped trying to catch said blond getting in past her years ago. Smiling she closed the door again and went back to her desk.

Hiruzen shook his head free of the cobwebs he had put into his mind and decided to get to other important matters.

"So you believe that Mizuki will finally take the bait this year?"

Naruto turned back around to look at his leader and nodded saying "He's getting pretty impatient but he seems willing to wait until after graduation. He probably feels that since it will be three times this year that I'll be desperate enough not to ask too many questions. Like they say third time's the charm. Tell you what though, if he doesn't go for it this time I say just send him to Ibiki regardless. I don't think I could take another year in there. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to wipe that smug smirk off of the Uchiha's face during our spars."

Sarutobi nodded and said "I know it's been hard for you Naruto. But look on the bright side. We do this right and you most likely won't have to deal with young Sasuke or any of your other classmates for a long time."

Naruto nodded again and said "Yeah. I'm going to miss Hinata though. She was the only one who was actually nice to me. Tell you one thing though, I'll be glad when I no longer have to act like I'm head over heels in love with Haruno. That girl hits as hard as Lady Tsunade. I swear the two are distantly related or something. Well, see you later Old Man."

As Naruto was turning to exit the office the normal way now that the important stuff was talked about, Sarutobi said "Actually Naruto, I have another mission that I think you might enjoy doing for me."

Naruto rose an eyebrow before catching the thrown scroll and unrolled it before smirking as he read what was written down. Looking back to his leader and nodding he tossed the scroll back and said "I'll get right on it. Take a look out your window at the monument in the morning when you hear the shouting start."

Sarutobi nodded and said "I'm looking forward to it."

The next morning Sarutobi heard "Hey guys! Look at this!" Turning around in his seat just in time to catch the Genjutsu that was over the Hokage Monument fall, the old man fell out of his seat in laughter as he saw what Naruto had done to get everyone's attention for his mission.

The Fourth's head had two fingers painted next to it in the victory sign as well as its tongue sticking out while the other Hokages were painted looking up as if they were shaking their heads in exasperation. Painted over the heads were the words "The Hidden Leaf's number one prankster strikes again."

On the monument, Naruto gave himself a pat on the back before he heard "Uzumaki!"

Naruto looked to the side and saw a team of four Anbu coming at him. He mock paled before grinning like a mad man and ran over to the edge of the monument before shooting off down the side with the Anbu right on his tail. What followed was one wacky chase as Naruto led not only the first team but five other Anbu teams on a merry chase through the city with said blond laughing the whole way.

It wasn't long before almost every single Anbu was trying to catch him. Three hours later, he dropped into an alley and grinned before disappearing and reappearing in the Hokage's office.

Smirking at the old man who looked over at him he said "How was that for testing Anbu patrols Old Man?"

Sarutobi smirked as well and said "I would say that was well done Naruto. Now I think you should go on to class. Don't you agree Iruka?"

Naruto hadn't noticed that Iruka was standing inside the office until he heard "Lord Hokage, you actually told him to do that?"

Naruto turned around to see his fellow shinobi of the leaf and said "Yeah, do you really think I would pull such a big prank if I didn't have the Old Man's go ahead? What do you take me for Iruka, an academy student? That reminds me." Naruto went over to the window and ran through a few hand signs. Five seconds later, one use seals on the monument that Naruto had placed down last night activated and the paint evaporated leaving the monument completely paint free.

Iruka shook his head at the undercover Jounin and thought 'I'm getting to old for this.'

As the two were leaving the Hokage's office, one of the Anbu chasing Naruto entered the office. Seeing the blond, the Anbu was about to grab him before the Hokage coughed and tossed the scroll that he had shown Naruto to him.

Reading the scroll, the Anbu slumped and Sarutobi said "I expect to see some improvements from this captain. We don't want an enemy shinobi being able to move around so easily."

The Anbu nodded before bowing and left room.

Iruka and Naruto followed him as they headed back to the academy. As they exited the tower, Iruka said "I still cannot believe the Hokage actually gave you a mission like that Naruto."

Naruto merely shrugged and said "Me either. But hey, I'm not complaining."

Iruka chuckled and said "I doubt you ever would. You do realize however that you won't be able to do any more pranks in a few days right?"

Naruto made a sad face and said "Don't remind me. I'm going to miss being able to let some steam out with pranks."

The rest of the trip to the academy was relatively quiet after that. As they entered the building, they made a quick stop to grab some rope from the supply storage room and Iruka tied Naruto in order to keep up pretenses.

Five minutes later, Naruto was sitting on the ground in front of his 'classmates' as Iruka 'lectured' him much to the students' entertainment.

Once he was done, he turned to the class and said "Now then, since Naruto decided that class was not important enough to actually attend, we're going to have a pop quiz on the henge jutsu."

There was a collective groan from the students while Naruto and Iruka mentally smirked at their discomfort. As Iruka untied Naruto and he joined the line, Shikamaru who was next to him looked at him and said "Uh, this is such a drag. Why do we have to have a quiz because you didn't come on time?"

Naruto rose an eyebrow but didn't say anything. The students meanwhile performed the jutsu all of them passed with only a few mistakes. When it came time for Naruto's turn he stepped up.

Iruka looked up from his clipboard where he was marking the scores and said "All right Naruto, your turn."

Naruto nodded and brought his hands up. He briefly considered pulling a prank on his fellow shinobi but decided that he should probably give Iruka a break now that he was getting close to the end of his undercover mission.

So shrugging to himself, he made the necessary hand signs before being covered in smoke. As it died down, a perfect copy of Iruka was standing in front of said teacher. Iruka nodded and put a mark down on his board as Naruto dropped his transformation and went back in line.

After the quiz was done, Iruka put his clipboard on his desk and said "All right class. Since the final exam is tomorrow, I'm giving you guys the rest of the day off so that you guys can prepare for it. If any of you want some last minute practice for your kunai and shuriken throwing, I'll be at the target range. Other than that, good luck to you all and I'll see you tomorrow."

Naruto stood up and followed Iruka out the door and the two headed towards the target range as the other students filed out, some heading to the range with the two shinobi and the others leaving the academy. Once they were at the target range, the students began picking up training kunai and shuriken and lined up for their chance at the targets.

Iruka was watching them from a safe distance supervising with Naruto standing next to him having been able to choose his gear first.

"So what do you think of their chances during the exams?" Iruka asked Naruto in a low voice so no one else could hear them.

Naruto studied the students for a moment before saying "None of them should really have any problems with the academy final exam as far as I can tell. As for the actual final exam, well that really depends on who gets which sensei, since they usually do different tests even if they are generally the same idea. Any idea on the team placements yet?"

Iruka shrugged and said "A few. The Third is hoping for a repeat of the Ino-Shika-Cho team's record with their children and Hinata, Shino, and Kiba would make a good tracking team. Everyone else will probably just be a grouping by grade and if I know they can work well together."

Naruto nodded and said "What about the Uchiha and the Haruno? It's obvious that they'll be together since they're the top two of the class, as sad as that is in her case, but who will you put with them?"

Iruka shrugged again and said "I'm not sure. Truth be told, if you weren't undercover and your grades were an actual representation of your skills, then you would have been placed with them due to the balancing rule."

Naruto made a face and said "Thank god they're not then. I don't think I could stand being on their team."

Iruka nodded and continued "The Hokage said that he would handle it though, so we'll have to see."

Naruto nodded before walking over to the line of students and took his turn making sure to miss every once in a while.

Scene Change: Ninja Academy Day Of Final Exam

Naruto currently had his head on his desk taking a nap as the students were taking their Ninjutsu tests. When his name was finally called, Naruto walked into the room where Iruka and Mizuki were.

As he saw Mizuki, he mentally sneered and thought 'If this guy doesn't take the bait, I'm still going to bust his ass to Ibiki. Genjutsu on my written, chakra strings diverting my kunai enough to barely hit targets and whatever he's going to try in here is more than enough to show he's a traitor in my book.'

Iruka was having similar thoughts about his ex-friend since he had seen the Genjutsu when Naruto had turned in his test. Shaking his head of those thoughts, he said "Okay Naruto, all you have to do is make three clones and you graduate."

Naruto nodded and faked a look of concentration before he made the necessary hand signs. Just as Naruto decided to overload the jutsu as much as possible, he felt a slight Genjutsu come over him disrupting it even more. Naruto mentally shrugged and let loose with the fire hose that was his chakra anyway.

A single poof of smoke appeared to his side before a clone that looked like it had been beaten by a horde of Sasuke's fan girls was on the ground with its right foot twitching.

Iruka rose an eyebrow at the sight having not only sensed the Genjutsu but also how much chakra Naruto put into it and thought 'How is that thing not a shadow clone? Naruto really let loose on that one. Oh well, time to get this show on the road.'

Sighing, he said "I'm sorry Naruto but you fail."

Naruto hung his head down as Mizuki tried to defend him never noticing the smirk on the blonde's face.

An hour later, Naruto was on the swing in front of the academy watching the students being congratulated by their parents. Feeling a pang in his heart at the sight he thought 'I wish mom and dad were here.'

He was brought out of his musings as he heard whispering directed towards him.

"He's the only one who didn't graduate."

"Yeah well good riddance! You know that he's the."

"Shh, we're not supposed to talk about that."

Naruto mentally rolled his eyes and thought 'Close minded fools.'

He then sensed Mizuki's presence and thought 'About damn time. Now lets see if he really took the bait or not.'

Scene Change: Forest Outside of the Village

Naruto appeared at the designated spot for the transfer with the forbidden scroll on his back. Looking at his watch, he saw that he had five minutes before it was show time. Deciding that he wanted an early warning on this one, Naruto crossed his hands and four poofs of smoke appeared.

As the smoke cleared revealing four copies of himself, he said "Spread out and hide. Dispel yourself if you catch sight of the target."

The clones nodded before giving salutes and took off into the forest.

Two minutes later he felt one of his clones dispelling telling him the traitor was almost at the meeting spot. Naruto dispelled the rest of the clones and sorted their memories before Mizuki landed in the clearing.

"Naruto, I see you have the scroll. Were you able to learn a jutsu from it?" Mizuki asked hoping to get Naruto in a sucker punch move.

Naruto shrugged and said "Didn't see much point since I can already use one of the jutsu in it. Here let me show you."

Mizuki's eyes went wide as Naruto crossed his hands and a twenty foot radius ring of Narutos surrounded the two. Naruto smirked as he tossed the Forbidden scroll to one of the clones and pulled out his headband.

As he tied it he said "Mizuki, as a Jounin of the Hidden Leaf Village I have been ordered to bring you in for questioning. Well you come quietly?"

Mizuki just stared for a moment before he began laughing an insane laugh and said "Hah, that's a laugh you demon brat. I have to admit that your Genjutsu may have surprised me, but there is no way a dead last demon brat like yourself could be a Gennin, let alone a Jounin!"

Naruto smirked and said "Two words: Under. Cover." And with that, he disappeared causing Mizuki to look around frantically before he felt a burning feeling on his back. Screaming out in pain Mizuki turned around trying to find the blond but wound up with another line of pain going down his back again.

If the traitor could see his back, he would have noticed his clothes burnt around two severe burns on his back that was in a cross shape.

Mizuki suddenly screamed in pain again as a burn appeared running down first his right arm and then his left. As he tried to figure out what was happening, a burn trail appeared along the backs of both his legs causing Mizuki to scream even louder. Finally, a burn ring appeared around his neck. Mizuki finally couldn't take any more and fainted from the pain.

Naruto reappeared with his hands in half ram signs held loosely by his sides with blue chakra surrounding the straight fingers in a thin shell.

Dropping the chakra technique, Naruto walked over to Mizuki, shook his head and said "What a pansy." before taking out a spool of ninja wire and began tying the traitor. Once he was done, he took the scroll back from his clone before dispelling the ring. Picking up Mizuki in a fireman's lift, Naruto began heading to the Hokage's tower where his leader and the head of the interrogation department were waiting for his packages.


	2. Shocking Revelations

2. Shocking Revelations

Author's Notes: Just a heads up guys. This story is going to be a bit more fast paced than my shadow clones will. I'm mainly sticking to the manga version where there is practically no filler. If anyone actually wants to see a certain arc let me know and I'll see about putting it in. Also, you have to remember that Naruto is one serious speed demon in this one so don't expect too many action packed fights when you read this. The only person who is still alive that could keep up with Naruto right now would maybe be Gai when he opens up as many gates as he could. Now then, let's get started.

A couple of days after the night that Naruto apprehended Mizuki, Naruto was talking with Sarutobi. They were in the ninja registration office but with Naruto's shadow clones keeping a lookout for any of his 'classmates' the two could have conversations and still have an early warning system to tell Naruto when he needs to leave before they arrived.

"So mind telling me which teams you think will most likely make the cut Old Man?" Naruto asked as he leaned back in the chair for the graduated students to sit in while the Hokage went over their id photos.

Sarutobi gave a light nod and said "Well the younger Ino-Shika-Cho team should be able to pass my son's test. The new tracking team comprised of Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame under Kurenai Yuhi will most likely pass as well. And the final team to most likely pass would be Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Sai, under Kakashi Hatake."

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Uncle Kakashi actually passing a team? Wow, either the civilian council ordered him to or its going to snow in a desert somewhere. But who's this Sai person? I've never heard of him."

Sarutobi sighed and said "He's one of Danzo's trainees. Said that he would be a good balancer for the team since he is more capable than young Sakura and almost as good as young Sasuke."

Naruto narrowed his eyes when he heard the elder's name. The man had tried to approach Naruto more than once as he trained to become a shinobi, but he gave Naruto really bad vibes whenever he did.

One of Naruto's clones suddenly dispelled itself telling him that a little kid was coming towards the office with a shuriken in his hand. Frowning at the unusual sight, he looked over to the old man and signed what his clone had seen to him.

Sarutobi sighed before signing back not to do anything right as the door opened and said kid came in running with the shuriken held haphazardly up high and yelling out "On guard old man! Today is the day I finally defeat you! Ah!"

Unfortunately, the kid tripped on his scarf halfway to said old man. The kid groaned before getting back to his feet and said "What tripped me?" Turning to Naruto he said "You! You tripped me, admit it! I would have gotten the old man if you hadn't!"

Naruto shook his head and thought 'This must be the Old Man's grandson, Konohamaru, that I've been hearing about. I had wondered when I would meet him.'

Standing up, he went over to Konohamaru and kneeled down before plucking the shuriken out of the kid's hand faster than he could see and said "Ok, first of all, you tripped on your scarf. Either shorten it or stop wearing it completely for a few years because your still too young to actually wear that the way you are. Second, you were holding this wrong. You hold it the way you did, you're more likely to cut yourself than your enemies. You have to hold it between your fingers. And third, what the heck were you thinking of trying to take on the Hokage with a full out charge? If you were an enemy, he could just kill you with a focused blast of his killing intent."

The kid was staring at Naruto for a moment before he shook his head and opened his mouth to say something when the occupants of the room heard "Honorable Grandson? Are you in there?"

A special Jounin came in through the open doorway before noticing Naruto crouched down in front of his charge. The man stiffened before saying "Hello Uzumaki."

Naruto's eyes narrowed slightly at how the man in front of him stiffened but dismissed it and said "Ebisu. I take it this kid is your charge?"

Ebisu nodded and said "That's right, I have been handpicked by the Lord Hokage to train his Honorable Grandson."

Naruto shook his head and said "Why does everyone feel the need to call him that? The kid's got a name, it should be used."

Ignoring the look he was getting from said kid he said "If you need me Old Man, I'll be at my training field on the monument."

Sarutobi nodded and Naruto disappeared making Konohamaru's eyes widen. Turning to his grandfather he said "Hey, old man, how did he do that?"

Ebisu squawked out something about showing the Lord Hokage proper respect but Sarutobi just chuckled and said "Naruto is a very fast person Konohamaru."

Ebisu pushed his sunglasses higher up his nose and said "Be that as it may, I still think he's too young to be a Jounin Lord Hokage."

Konohamaru's eyes widened again hearing that while Sarutobi rose an eyebrow and said "There have been others who have become Jounin at that early if not earlier an age Ebisu. Itachi Uchiha and Kakashi Hatake just to name a couple."

Ebisu frowned and said "With all due respect, Lord Hokage, but one of those went insane and killed his own clan while the other has degraded into a perverted delinquent who has no sense of punctuality what so ever."

Sarutobi frowned and said "That's true." He then brightened and said "But I don't think we need to worry about Naruto going down either of those paths. Especially the on time part. Hard to be late for anything when you can get from one side of the village to the next in less than five seconds."

Ebisu was about to concede that point when he noticed that his charge had slipped away at some point in time. Looking around frantically he said "Where did the Honored Grandson go?"

Sarutobi chuckled and said "I think he went to go find Naruto. He certainly seemed to have made an impression on him."

Said blonde was currently throwing kunai at targets in his training field on the Hokage Monument behind a thin strip of woods hiding it from any of the occasional visitors to the monument. It was a good place for him to train since it was a wide open place that allowed him to place various targets around the area that he could work on his speed against and also had woods all around that he could work on moving through at high speeds.

Throwing another kunai into a target he said "You know Konohamaru, if you want to talk to me, you're going to actually have to come out of hiding."

Said kid came out from behind a tree and said "How did you find me? I thought my hiding skills were the best?"

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Maybe for a kid who hasn't had any of the stealth classes in the academy, but it would be pretty obvious to anyone Gennin or higher. Especially since you weren't trying to hide your chakra presence. So what did you need?"

Konohamaru looked down for a moment and then said "Teach me."

Naruto's eyebrow shot back up and he said "Teach you? Why would I do that? Don't you already have a teacher?"

Konohamaru looked him in the eye and said "Yeah, but he never teaches me anything! He just keeps saying that if I do what he says that I'll become Hokage quicker. And he never calls me by my name. He just calls me Honored Grandson just like everyone else. You are the only one besides my family to actually call me by my name."

Naruto sighed and said "Konohamaru, I can't be your teacher, I have missions I have to go on." Konohamaru looked back down before Naruto continued "But I should be able to show you a thing or two every now and then."

Konohamaru's head snapped back up and he said "Really?"

Naruto nodded and said "Yup. Why don't we start with something pretty simple? Come on over where I'm standing and I'll show you the proper way to throw a kunai."

As Konohamaru came over to where he was standing, Naruto went over to the targets and pulled out the kunai he had thrown before walking back to Konohamaru. Once he was beside the kid he started explaining how to throw the throwing knives while Konohamaru listened intently.

In a nearby tree, Ebisu watched the two and thought 'I guess the Lord Hokage was right about him. I think I'll let him continue these lessons every once in a while. It seems to be doing the Honored Grandson some good."

As Konohamaru continued throwing the knives trying to get the hang of it Naruto looked over at the tree that Ebisu was in. The Special Jounin nodded to him before taking off. Naruto rose an eyebrow and thought 'I guess he's not so bad after all.'

One Week After The "Mizuki Incident"

This year's graduates were all in the familiar classroom for the last time. Or at least that's what they thought, Iruka of course knew that quite a few would probably be back here or be out of the program completely.

He quickly shook that thought out of his mind though as he stepped in front of the class and got their attention with his big head jutsu.

Iruka was about to begin his speech when one of the students said "Hey, Iruka-sensei, where is Mizuki-sensei?"

Iruka's face hardened but a voice from the doorway answered for him.

"Mizuki was a traitor that was apprehended a week ago during a sting operation when he attempted to steal the forbidden scroll of sealing."

The class looked to the door and were surprised to see a familiar blond leaning against the door frame.

Kiba looked at him and said "What are you doing here Dead Last? You were only supposed to come here if you graduated."

Most of the other students agreed while Hinata looked at him in hope that he had actually somehow passed.

Naruto pushed off from the doorway and flicked his headband that the graduates only just now realized was on his forehead before he said "Mind how you talk to your superiors Inuzuka. I was under orders by the Hokage for the past three years to draw that traitor into a trap and take care of him. I am not in the mood to deal with some fresh out of the academy rookie who can't accept the fact that someone was working under cover."

The class was stunned with various thoughts running through their minds, some were reevaluating what they thought they knew about the blond while others were furious that the dead last had apparently been stronger than he let on. (Guess who?) Meanwhile, Hinata was just confused. She was glad that Naruto had failed on purpose but was beginning to wonder how much of what she had seen of the blond that none of the others did had been real of if it all was just an act.

Naruto then walked over to Iruka and took a scroll out from his Jounin vest that made the class even more shocked when they finally noticed that not only was Naruto not wearing his kill me orange jumpsuit, but was wearing the uniform of an elite shinobi of their hidden village.

Giving the scroll to his comrade he said "Here Iruka, the Hokage wants you to go over this when you have the free time and tell him what you think once your done."

Iruka nodded before he put the scroll in his Chunnin vest and said "Well do. Thanks Naruto."

Naruto nodded before he turned to face the class and gave a quick salute before seeming to disappear into thin air. Iruka chuckled at the dumbfounded looks on all of the students which snapped them out of their shock and began shouting out questions.

Iruka got a tick mark on his head before he performed his patented big head jutsu again and said "Be Quiet! Now then, allow me to explain a few things that are to be expected of you and then I'll get to the teams."

Ten minutes later, Hinata was sitting on a bench by herself as she slowly ate her lunch as she tried to make sense of what she and the rest of the graduates had been told before their teams were announced.

"Mind if I join you for a moment?"

Hinata looked up and saw the blond that she admired standing in front of her. Her eyes widened before she shook her head with a blush forming on her cheeks.

Naruto sat down beside her and sighed and closed his eyes. After a moment he said "I want to thank you Hinata."

Hinata looked at him in confusion and said "For what Naruto?"

Naruto smiled and opened his eyes to look at Hinata and said "For being the only one to actually treat me as a fellow classmate instead of the class punching bag. You're the only reason why I didn't lose it this year and just let loose on all of them. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to just say to hell with my mission and show them all exactly what I could do. Especially when it came to the Uchiha."

Naruto had a scowl at the end but quickly shook his head and smiled again and said "Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks and give you some advice that should really help you in the future. I know you have some confidence issues Hinata. (Said Hyuga looked down causing Naruto to put a hand on her shoulder to get her to look at him again.) But believe it or not, you actually make a fantastic kunoichi. You're one of the smartest girls the academy has produced this year and when you get really serious your Taijutsu can't be beat without the other person going through hell first. (Hinata got another blush as Naruto continued.) Your only problem seems to be that you're afraid of what others may think of you. Anyway, here's my advice. When you have something that you have to do in front of or for someone, just forget about them."

Seeing her confused look, he elaborated. "Forget that anyone is judging you on what you do. Simply focus on the task and do it. Don't worry about what others think about every single thing that you do. It's you who's doing them, not the other people around you. If it pleases them, then that's great, but if not, then it's not the end of the world. You'll just have to try harder next time. Understand?"

Hinata nodded and Naruto smiled again before standing up. Turning to her he said "I need to get going now, but if you ever need some help or just someone to talk to, I'll do my best to be there for you all right? And if you can't find me, just ask the Hokage, he'll know where I am."

Hinata nodded again and softly said "Thank you."

Naruto nodded with his smile still in place and said "No problem. See ya Hinata." He gave a quick salute before disappearing to go do the other errands that he had been assigned for the day.

Time Skip: One Month Later

Naruto was currently teaching Konohamaru and his two friends Moegi and Undon the leaf balancing trick in his training field on the Hokage Monument when a hawk began circling over head and gave out a cry. The three kids lost their focus and looked up along with Naruto.

Naruto whistled and the hawk landed on his outstretched arm surprising the three kids. Naruto untied the note from the hawk's leg and sent it back to its roost with a small but quick jerk of his arm letting it know that it could go back. As the hawk took off, Naruto looked at the note and frowned a little before putting the note in one of his vest's pockets.

Turning to the kids he said "The Old Man's calling. It's probably for a mission so I'll probably be away for a while. Keep working on this and when you can balance the leaf in your palms for a minute, move to your fingers and do the same. If you finish that before I get back, start adding leaves to each finger."

The three kids nodded and Naruto disappeared from view.

Naruto reappeared in the Hokage's office and came to attention before saying "You summoned me sir?"

Sarutobi nodded and said "Team 7 was just recently assigned an escort mission for a bridge builder from the Land of Waves. Their mission was to escort the man back to his home and protect him while he finished a bridge from any bandits that would turn up. However, the client lied about who would be after him and the team ran into a couple of Chunnin level ninja. Kakashi decided to continue the mission due to what he says are extreme circumstances. He has requested back up though and I am sending you as it. You are to leave immediately. Expect more enemy shinobi, possibly at Jounin rank. Any questions?"

Naruto shook his head and Sarutobi tossed him a scroll that Naruto caught before giving a salute and disappeared again heading to his apartment to pack for the trip.

Once Naruto had everything he would need, he quickly went to the village gate and showed Kotetsu and Izumo his mission scroll as he signed himself out. Once that was done, he quickly focused on the sense of extreme speed and took off.

Minato Namikaze's Hirashine jutsu is heralded as a masterpiece of seals. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Hirashine was nothing more than Minato using his bloodline. When a bearer of the slipstream bloodline uses it, they move so fast that they get tunnel vision making it very dangerous to use in a combat situation. And that is where the pronged kunai comes in. Each seal on the kunai actually contained some of Minato's chakra that would steadily pulse it out allowing him to know where everything was around him.

Now Naruto may not have any of the special kunai, but he could do one better whenever he "joined the slipstream." Naruto instead put his status as a jinchuriki to good use. With his seriously massive chakra stores, Naruto could send out a constant wave of chakra giving him a real time chakra field of "vision" that negated the tunnel vision effects of using his bloodline. And since this "chakra sonar" actually helped his chakra capacity grow as his body adapted to the repeated use of the technique, Naruto was able to keep the technique going for hours on end if needed. And that made for one scary shinobi that even his father would be hesitant to fight.

As Naruto ran and his vision tunnelized, he began pulsing out his chakra. This was really the only way someone could tell Naruto was in the room if he had his bloodline active even if he was running circles around the person. If a Hyuga was ever to try and spot him when his technique was going full blast, they would be instantly blinded by all the chakra in the air which was why Naruto never used it whenever he knew Hinata was watching with her Byakugan active. As he ran, Naruto thought 'Hang on Uncle Kakashi, I'm coming.'

Scene Change: Scene Of First Fight With Zabuza

Kakashi was currently trapped in a sphere of water that Zabuza was holding together with his hand in it.

Kakashi looked out at his team that was doing their best to not wet themselves, well Sasuke and Sakura anyway, and shouted as best as he could through the technique at them.

"Don't just stand there! Take the client and go! His water clones can't get too far from the original. This fight was over the instant he caught me!"

But before the trio of Gennin could say anything, Zabuza suddenly yelled and pulled his hand out of the water to look at his arm that was completely covered in burns from shoulder to wrist. As the water sphere burst apart, Kakashi caught himself from falling completely into the water and looked up just in time to see a knee planting itself into Zabuza's chin. Zabuza shot up and back before hitting the water and bounced five times hard over it before sinking.

As he watched the missing nin sank, Kakashi heard a voice say "Uncle Kakashi, how many times do I have to pull your bacon out of the fire?"


	3. Silent Killing's Match

3. Silent Killing's Match

Sakura and Sasuke had absolutely no clue whatsoever what just happened. One moment Kakashi's begging them to take their client and get as far away as possible, the next instant Zabuza lets the technique he trapped Kakashi in drop for some unknown reason and then is sent flying by a familiar blond who just appeared out of absolutely no where. Sai was the only one who had any idea at the moment where Naruto came from and how he had come to be there. After all, he had been informed by Danzo about the blond.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was getting to his feet as Naruto looked over to the side at him and said "You all right there Uncle Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded but before he could say anything, a water dragon formed over where Zabuza had sunk and rushed toward the two. Naruto disappeared and then reappeared on the shore with Kakashi right behind him as the dragon slammed down right where they had been a second before throwing up waves.

As they settled, they showed Zabuza standing where they had been. He looked at Naruto with contempt and said "I'll have to admit that was a pretty good shot kid. And whatever you did to my arm hurts, but there is no way a runt like you has any chance against me. Still, I'm curious. What's your name boy?"

Naruto smirked and said "My name is unimportant brow-less. I will tell you that my code name is Kitsune. Although others have began calling me the Flash Fire."

Zabuza frowned but before he could do or say anything, Naruto disappeared again. As Zabuza began looking around for the brat, he began sensing a ton of chakra permeating the air. It was like when he used the Hidden Mist jutsu only it was five times more potent.

Back on the shore, the three Gennin felt it as well. Sakura looked around with wide eyes and thought 'Is all this Naruto? How could he have this much chakra?"

Sasuke clenched his fist and thought 'Is this how much the dead last was hiding? I should have that power, not him."

Sai was merely observing to the best of his abilities. Danzo had always told him and the rest of the Root Anbu that Naruto had the potential to be even better than the fourth and to consider themselves lucky if they ever witnessed him in action.

Tazuna meanwhile was just trying to figure out how a boy no older than his escorts could just disappear like that. Kakashi was most likely the calmest out of everyone as he simply waited for Naruto to make his move. He was ready to be the back up for his sensei's son if he needed it, but he highly doubted he would.

Then Naruto's voice sounded from all around at once reminding the three Gennin and bridge builder what Zabuza had done just earlier.

"There are four types of burns. First Degree, Second Degree, Third Degree, and Fourth Degree. Which burn should I use today?"

Everyone except for Kakashi was looking around trying to find the blond while wondering at the same time what the hell he was talking about. That all changed when they heard "Why don't we start with second?"

Right after he said that, Zabuza screamed in pain as a second degree burn suddenly appeared going across his chest from right hip to left shoulder. Right after, his left arm became completely covered in burns just like his left one only these were much more painful. Even from the distance the Gennin were at they could see the big blisters that were already beginning to form.

Zabuza then yelled again and turned around trying to hit something behind him showing everyone the five x shaped burns on his back that were placed with one right in the middle with the other four connected with one on each of the four lines of the center one.

Zabuza roared in pain again as his pant legs burned near the back of his knees showing even more burns there. He then shouted out "Where the hell are you?"

Everyone then heard chuckling before Naruto said "What's the matter Zabuza? I thought you were a master of silent killing. Surely you can find one little kid without too much problems, right?"

Before Zabuza could say anything though, he flew to the side before abruptly switching directions constantly like he was a pinball stuck in the bouncer section of an invisible pinball machine. Finally, after a minute of this, he was suddenly sent flying into a tree trunk.

Zabuza screamed out in pain as the burns on his back hit the tree trunk causing the blisters to pop. Naruto reappeared on a tree branch to his right.

Zabuza looked up at him and said "What are you?"

Naruto looked down at him and said "Your worst nightmare."

All of a sudden, three senbon needles imbedded themselves in the side of Zabuza's neck causing him to slump over dead startling everyone else.

Naruto hopped down and said "You sure took your sweet time hunter nin."

Everyone looked up to where Naruto was looking and saw a hunter nin of the Mist who looked to be no older than Naruto and the Gennin.

'He can only be about as old as Naruto, but he's a hunter nin already. Naruto I can understand since he uses his bloodline. But for a Mist shinobi to be a hunter nin at such a young age, how strong is this guy?" Kakashi thought as he studied the kid.

Sasuke was fuming. 'Damn it. First the dead last, and now this new guy. How many people my age are there that are stronger than me? I need more power. It's the only way I can kill HIM!'

Sakura was still shocked at how sudden Zabuza had been defeated and then killed while Tazuna was just glad that it was all over.

The hunter nin dropped down to the ground near Zabuza's body and said "My apologies, but it was apparent that you had everything under control. Besides, I'm not sure I would have been able to handle Zabuza if you hadn't worn him down like you did. Now if you will excuse me, I must dispose of the body."

The hunter nin made a hand sign and then disappeared with the body in a whirlwind of leaves.

Kakashi lowered his headband covering his Sharingan eye and slumped a little before saying "I'm glad that's over."

Naruto looked over and noticed his "uncle's" slumped over form and said "Does that thing still drain you as bad as before Uncle Kakashi?"

Kakashi nodded and said "Yeah, but it's not as bad as if I had actually used it for more than keeping up with Zabuza. It would have been worse if I had actually had to use it to copy any of his jutsu."

Naruto hmmed and said "Still, we better find you a place to lie down soon." Turning to Tazuna he said "How close are we to your house old man?"

"About five more miles." Tazuna said. Naruto nodded and went over to Kakashi before slinging one of his arms over his shoulders and made a lead the way motion with his free hand. As the Gennin fell in around them, Sakura decided to ask about the things on her mind.

"Hey Naruto?" Getting a "Hm?" in response, she continued "What exactly did you do back there? You just disappeared for a while and then these burns appeared and after that Zabuza just started flying through the air."

Naruto thought about whether or not he should tell her anything considering how she had treated him in the past but decided that he might as well otherwise she and the Uchiha would never leave him alone.

"It's actually pretty simple Haruno. I merely moved faster than the eye could see. Those burns that appeared on Zabuza's body resulted from the friction of pressing my fingers against his skin while I moved so fast around him. As for the flying around bit, I was simply hitting him with my fists."

Sakura frowned and said "Wait, if those burns resulted from friction, why aren't your fingers burned, and for that matter, how did just your fingers burn Zabuza's whole arm?"

Naruto shook his head and said "You know Haruno, for the smartest girl in your class, you sure don't think. What is the most important thing that a shinobi uses that separates us from civilians?"

Sakura's eyes lit up in understanding before she scowled at the tone of voice Naruto used. She refrained from hitting him though since he was carrying her sensei. (Like she could without Naruto allowing it.) She then frowned and said "You still didn't answer the other question."

Naruto shrugged and said "Because it's obvious Haruno. Instead of just my fingers those two times, I simply placed both hands around the arm around the shoulder and rubbed against the entire arm on the way down."

Sakura looked down obviously thinking that she should have realized that. Sasuke meanwhile was trying to glare a hole right through Naruto's back.

"Dobe, how did you get so much power?"

Naruto glanced back and said "Watch your tone rookie. I've been an actual shinobi far longer than you have. That's why the Hokage chose me to go undercover and not you."

Sasuke grinded his teeth and said "Answer me!"

"Sasuke! That's enough!" Kakashi said finally entering the conversation. He looked over his shoulder at the Gennin and continued with a glare "I will not have you disrespect a Jounin of our village! Am I clear?"

Sasuke glared at his teacher but finally ground out a "Yes sensei." The rest of the way to Tazuna's house was pretty much quiet after that. Once at the house, Tazuna knocked on the door. It opened to reveal a woman who was definitely pretty

Smiling she hugged Tazuna and said "Dad, you made it back all right." Looking at the shinobi she said "Are these?"

Tazuna nodded and said "Yes. These are the shinobi that I hired. The blond was sent as reinforcements and I must say I'm glad he was."

Sasuke scowled at that but wisely stayed silent while Tazuna's daughter smiled at them and said "Thanks for keeping dad safe. I know he can be a handful sometimes." She ignored the "hey" from her father and continued "My name's Tsunami by the way."

Naruto rose his hand and Tsunami shook it as he said "Naruto Uzumaki, Jounin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The man currently on my shoulder is Kakashi Hatake, the same. Behind me are Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Sai. Gennin of the Village Hidden in the Leaves and Uncle Kakashi's team."

Tsunami rose an eyebrow at the word uncle and she wasn't the only one. Sakura had been wondering why Naruto had called her sensei uncle when he first arrived but had forgotten to ask him about it since she was more interested in finding out how Naruto had did what he did during the fight.

"Uncle? You two don't look related." Tsunami said.

Naruto chuckled and said "Oh we're not. Not by blood anyway. I guess you could say he's a family friend of mine. Now I don't mean to be rude, but if it wouldn't be too much, could we lie him down somewhere? He drained himself pretty badly during the last fight."

Tsunami shook her head and moved to the side and said "Of course. Sorry about that. Just put him upstairs in the guest bedroom."

Naruto nodded and entered the house followed by the others. The Gennin sat themselves around the living room once they entered leaving Naruto by himself as he helped his mentor up the stairs to the guest room. Once there, Naruto gently laid Kakashi down on the bed before going to the door and making sure that they were alone. Finding no one coming up the stairs, Naruto closed the door and placed a privacy seal on it before turning back to Kakashi who had been watching him.

"So you figured it out as well." Kakashi said in a serious voice.

Naruto nodded and said "Yeah. That hunter went right for the neck with those needles of his. Less muscle there to get in the way of a pressure point shot. How long do you think we have?"

Kakashi thought and then said "At least a week. That's how long it will take him to recover from the fake-death state. Maybe a little more if they try to fully heal the burns you gave him."

Naruto frowned and said "I shouldn't have played around with him. I should have just stabbed him in the heart when I first got here."

Kakashi shook his head and said "We both know that you hate taking a life so carelessly. And there's nothing we can do about it now but prepare for them. We're going to have to get the Gennin up to speed. We should probably teach them tree climbing."

Naruto's eyes widened and he said "You haven't taught them that yet? What have you been doing for the past month?"

Kakashi frowned and said "Trying to get them to work as a team. What's the point in teaching them high class moves and jutsu if they wind up not caring if they hit their teammates or not? You've never had problems working with others but with them, they can't even agree on who cleans up what part of a park."

Naruto sighed and said "I see. Well in that case, I don't really blame you. I guess while your teaching them I'll guard Tazuna. Get some rest Uncle. We can tell the rooks tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded and Naruto turned around and took down the privacy seal before stepping out the door. Closing it softly, he walked down the stairs and entered the living room.

Sakura looked up as he came in and said "Naruto. How is sensei?"

Naruto shrugged and said "He's fine Haruno. A little tired but nothing that a good night's rest shouldn't cure. Make sure you guys get a good night's rest tonight as well. I know for a fact that Kakashi is going to give you guys some hard training tomorrow. If any of you guys need me, I'll be outside setting up some patrols with my shadow clones. And then I'll be on the roof."

Naruto turned and left the living room again and left the house itself. Crossing his hands, A platoon of clones appeared. Looking at them he said "I want half of you to set up a perimeter around this house. The other half head to the bridge and make sure no one tries anything funny with it."

The clones all saluted before taking off to complete their task. Naruto then turned towards the house and jumped up onto the roof and settled down.

'And now we wait.'


	4. Getting Ready

4. Getting Ready

The next morning, Kakashi joined everyone at the table for breakfast. As he sat down, he said "Guys, there's something important that we have to tell you."

The three Gennin looked at Kakashi and Sakura said "What is it Kakashi-sensei?"

"Zabuza's alive."

Everyone but Naruto gaped at him. Sakura was the first to recover and said "A-are you sure Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi nodded but it was Naruto who answered.

"The hunter nin used senbon needles. Their highly accurate and the hunter shot for the neck. There are certain pressure points on the body that will put someone in a death like state. And the neck has the least muscles that would interfere with hitting those points. Add to the fact that the hunter moved the body when he was supposed to destroy in right where it was, and you have a fake hunter nin working with Zabuza."

Sasuke scoffed and said "And you call yourself a Jounin. You couldn't even catch a fake in the act."

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Well I didn't see you doing anything Uchiha. And besides, even if I attacked that hunter, if it had been a real one, what do you think the repercussions would be for our village? Kakashi and I had to take that chance or risk a war between the Leaf and Mist. So why don't you keep your mouth shut since you obviously have no idea what you're supposed to do in that kind of situation."

Sasuke glared and was about to say something when Sakura shouted out "Don't talk to Sasuke-kun like that!" And tried to hit Naruto. As the fist came towards him, the two disappeared and then reappeared against a wall with Naruto's left wrist pressing her throat in and a kunai in his right hand holding her chin upwards.

Naruto glared at Sakura as the kunoichi stared in shock and horror. Naruto then growled out "Listen Haruno, and listen good. Your dear Sasuke isn't the top dog, and he never was. You all think he's someone special and call him a genius but guess what? He's not a genius he's just a regular Uchiha who hasn't even activated his Sharingan yet. The only Uchiha genius that the Leaf village produced was his brother Itachi and he never relied on his Sharingan to copy other people's jutsu like the rest of that band of thieves. And if you ever try to attack one of your superiors again, I will write you up so fast the Hokage will get paper cuts from it. Am I clear?"

Sakura nodded as much as she could with a kunai under her chin and Naruto released her. Turning around, he saw Sasuke glaring at him and he said "The same goes for you as well Sasuke. We aren't in the academy anymore. Get your act together or leave the program. We don't need upstarts like you trying to prove you're better than everyone else."

Turning to Tazuna he said "I'll be waiting outside to escort you to the bridge." The old man nodded and Naruto walked out. As he left, a small boy came downstairs rubbing one of his eyes from sleep before looking around at the expressions on everyone's faces and asked "What's going on?"

Kakashi shook his head and said "Oh nothing much. Just a little dispute." He then stood up and said "Sakura, Sasuke, Sai. Finish up your breakfast and then meet me outside. We have to get you guys as up to speed as possible for when Zabuza comes back in a week."

Sakura looked at him and said "But Kakashi-sensei, what could we possibly do in a week that will prepare us to fight Zabuza? We couldn't do anything last time."

Kakashi merely eye smiled and said "You'll see."

Fifteen minutes later, Tazuna and the rest of the people working on the bridge were staring as a shadow clone was reporting to Naruto with the rest of the clones spread out along the bridge keeping an eye out for anyone trying to harm the bridge.

"All quiet, nothing to report sir." The clone said as it gave a salute to its creator. Naruto nodded before turning back to Tazuna and said "Hey Tazuna? Need some extra hands?"

Meanwhile, Kakashi was leading his team into the forest. Once Kakashi thought they were at a good spot, he turned to his students and said while giving his eye smile "All right my lovable students, today we are going to learn how to climb trees."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him like he was crazy before Sakura said "But Kakashi-sensei, we can already climb trees."

Kakashi smiled again and said "Ah, but can you do it without using your hands?"

Kakashi then turned and walked to a tree before waling UP it. Sasuke and Sakura's jaws dropped while Sai simply looked on. Kakashi reached the lowest branch of the tree about twenty feet up and hang down from the bottom of it.

Keeping his smile, Kakashi said "This is a chakra exercise that is essential to all ninja. Using your chakra, you can stick to the sides of any solid object. You must focus your chakra to your feet to stick to the surface. Too much and you will blast yourself off. Too little and you will slip off."

Kakashi reached into his kunai pouch and threw three kunai on the ground in front of his three students feet and said "You should use those to mark your progress. I'd suggest getting a running start."

Sakura and Sasuke got determined looks as they picked up the kunai while Sai simply bent down to pick his up. The three then focused on separate trees and took off at them at a run.

Sasuke made it up about ten steps before the bark suddenly splintered and Sasuke launched himself back as a small crater the size of his foot and half an inch deep appeared.

As Sasuke back flipped and landed in a crouch, he thought 'So it's an exercise of balance. Too much chakra and you push the object away from you. Too little and you don't stick."

"This is easy!"

Sasuke looked up his eyes widened when he saw that Sakura was on a branch at the same level as Kakashi.

"What are you doing on the ground dick less?"

Sasuke's head jerked to the side and his eyes virtually bugged out when he saw that Sai was on a branch of his own about ten feet above Sakura's position.

'Hm, Sakura's file said that she had perfect chakra control. And I imagine that Danzo had made sure Sai was as capable as possible."

Sakura meanwhile was shooting a glare and shouted out "Don't insult Sasuke-kun!"

"Hm, so much for the heir of the most powerful clan of the Hidden Leaf Village. It seems like Sakura and Sai are a bit better at this than you are." Kakashi said trying to motivate Sasuke. Sasuke growled before rushing the tree again.

Scene Change: Tazuna's Bridge Thirty Minutes Later

The bridge was buzzing with activity as the workers worked beside some of Naruto's clones. Each worker had a clone to help him who was being taught how to do what they were doing. The general plan was that since clones were only made out of chakra, they could continue working when their teachers were taking a lunch break while said teachers could watch and correct if they had to. That way they could get an extra hour in building the bridge but still leave at the usual time.

Naruto had briefly considered making more clones when the workers were done for the day with the sole purpose of carrying on for the night, but Tazuna shot the idea down stating that even if the clones learned how to do everything perfectly, he and the other workers would have to check each section they built and if any of them weren't up to spec they would just have to tear them down which would be a waste of materials.

Naruto conceded the point though he did say that he would keep those clones around at night again to guard the bridge since Gato might just decide to try and blow the bridge up and be done with it. Tazuna had paled at that and readily agreed that it would be a good idea.

That night at dinner, Naruto was sitting next to Tsunami's son Inari when Team 7 came in the house with the three Gennin in various states. Sakura came in looking absolutely exhausted but other than that fine. Sai looked like he had done nothing more than have a light jog for about an hour. But it was Sasuke's appearance that nearly made Naruto laugh. He was covered in scuff marks and looked about ready to collapse.

"You guys have fun?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. Sai didn't say anything and instead just sat down and began eating while Sakura groaned in response before following suit. Sasuke glared at the blond before following suit causing Naruto to chuckle.

"What's so funny Dobe?" Sasuke growled out.

Naruto's face instantly turned serious and he said "Watch your attitude rookie. Like I said to Inuzuka I wasn't in the mood to deal with a rookie that couldn't handle the fact that I was undercover and I'm still not. You're not the greatest thing to grace the earth and you never will be. You aren't even the greatest Uchiha. You're just a second rate one who hasn't even activated his Sharingan yet."

Sasuke roared and launched himself at the blond only to be caught by Kakashi.

"Calm down Sasuke! Naruto, I would have expected better from you." Kakashi said glaring at Sasuke and then looking at Naruto in a disappointed manner.

Naruto shrugged and said "What do you want me to say Uncle Kakashi? The Uchiha needs to learn that he's not as great as he thinks he is. And since there is no real way to sugar coat it in a way that he would still understand, I simply told him in the most straight forward way possible."

Naruto's eyes then narrowed and he said "And as far as I'm concerned, the Uchiha were all overrated any way. They were nothing but thieves stealing the hard work of others. The only one who wasn't like that was Itachi. No wonder he went and killed the rest of his clan, he must have gotten sick of all their arrogance."

Sasuke roared and struggled to break free of Kakashi's grip and shouted out "You take that back!"

Naruto stood up and began walking out of the kitchen. As he passed through the door he called out "Why would I take back the truth?"

An hour later, Kakashi came out of the window to his room and found Naruto staring at the moon.

As he sat down beside him he said "I really wish you wouldn't antagonize my students Naruto."

Naruto simply sighed and said "I'm sorry Uncle Kakashi. Really, I am. But considering what I went through last year, especially at the hands of those two, I find it real hard not to. Haruno I may change my mind about if she gets her act together, but the Uchiha is a real piece of work that needs to be brought back down to earth. Asking me to be nice to him would be like asking me to move the Hokage Monument by myself. It just can't be done. Especially considering what that clan has done to me in the past."

Kakashi sighed and said "I know where you're coming from Naruto, you know I do. But their my responsibility. Just try not to start any more fights, all right?"

Naruto nodded and said "I'll try Uncle Kakashi. I promise."

Kakashi nodded as well before heading back to his window and said "Good night Naruto. Don't stay up too late."

"Yes mother." Naruto said with a smile earning a chuckle from his fellow Jounin.

Scene Change: Zabuza's Room In Gato's Base Of Operations

Zabuza hissed in pain and then sighed in relief as his tool placed some more cream on the burns on his back. Thanks to Gato, Haku had been able to procure fast acting medicine for the burns that the blond had given him. They would be gone by the end of the week.

As Zabuza thought about their next fight he said "Haku."

"Yes Zabuza-sama?"

"I want you to find out anything you can about that blond brat. And when the time comes, I want you to fight him. You're probably the only one who can keep up with his speed."

"As you wish Zabuza-sama."

The next morning when Naruto was exiting the house with Tazuna, Kakashi had Sai join Naruto in guarding the bridge since he had mastered the tree climbing exercise. When Naruto had asked him why he wasn't going to teach the boy water walking, Kakashi simply eye smiled and said "I'll leave that to you." Naruto had simply rolled his eyes and motioned Sai to follow them.

When the trio reached the bridge, Naruto dispelled the clones from the night before and replaced them with a fresh batch. No use giving himself a massive headache by absorbing more than a full day's memories from so many clones all at once. Naruto then created two more clones. One to stick with Tazuna and the other to show Sai how to walk on the water to the bridge. Once everything was taken care of at the bridge Naruto took off shocking all of the workers by seeming to disappear in thin air.

Naruto joined the slipstream and took off to explore the island a bit. While he could have sent clones to do this, it was much quicker for Naruto to do by himself since he could use his chakra sonar technique and not worry about being dispelled when he ran out of it. First though he wanted to see how his former 'classmates' were doing.

Scene Change: Team 7's Training Area

Kakashi suddenly sensed a ton of chakra coming from the direction of the unfinished bridge and thought 'Here he comes.'

Right after that thought he said "Hello Naruto."

Naruto smirked from his position next to his fellow Jounin and mentor and said "Hey Uncle Kakashi. Just wanted to see how they're doing and tell you that I'm going to look around a bit."

Kakashi nodded and said "I have no problems with that. But if you find Gato's base, don't do anything drastic without telling me first. No telling what would happen if we acted too hastily. And as you can see, they're doing fairly well."

It was true. Sasuke had made it about half way to the top while Sakura was resting in one of the highest branches. Naruto nodded before he gave Kakashi a salute and took off again.

True to Kakashi's prediction, Naruto had found Gato's base. As he studied the base from a high tree branch wondering if he should go ahead and scout it, he spotted a figure that looked like a boy his age exiting the ramp and entered the woods.

Deciding to follow the boy, he dropped down from the tree and began following him using his high Jounin stealth to follow him without chakra. He had a theory who the boy was and it would do him no good to tip off the kid by using chakra if he was right.

Following the boy to a field where he began picking herbs, Naruto considered his options. He could either confront the guy now and possibly safe himself the trouble of having to fight both him and Zabuza at once at a later date. He could just leave the boy alone and hope for the best, something that Naruto really did not want to do. Or he could try to learn as much as he could about the boy.

Naruto then remembered Kakashi's order. Even though the two were both Jounin, Kakashi had superiority out in the field due to him having been a former Anbu captain before he left and became a regular Jounin. Deciding that his third option was still within his order's parameters, Naruto moved around the clearing to make it seem like he came from the village.

Once he was in place, Naruto began walking into the clearing. The boy quickly caught sight of him and Naruto noticed the boy almost imperceptivity stiffening when he saw who it was confirming to Naruto that he was aware of who he was facing.

Naruto put on a warm smile and said "I must admit, I wasn't expecting to find someone way out here."

The boy smiled as well though Naruto noticed most of it didn't reach his eyes and said "Well this is the best place to find the herbs that I need."

Naruto nodded and said "True. Some of these herbs are pretty good for medicine. Take this one for example." He bent down to pick up a herb he recognized and said "This one is a good one for treating the pain that comes from first and second degree burns if mixed with a couple of others and turned into a paste."

The boy cocked his head and said "You seem very knowledgeable about them."

Naruto chuckled and said "I had to be. I can't tell you how many times I've burned myself."

The boy rose an eyebrow and said "Really? You don't look like you've been burned often."

Naruto smirked and said "And you don't look like you're actually a boy with that pink kimono, but we all like to hide certain things from others."

The boy stiffened just a little and said "Yes, that's true."

Naruto then shook his head and said "Where's my manners? I'm Naruto."

The boy gave another one of those smiles that didn't quite reach his eyes and said "Haku."

Naruto nodded and said "So, you collecting these for someone who needs them or are you like me who likes to have some handy in case of emergencies?"

Haku looked hesitant before he said "These are for someone that's a precious person of mine. Tell me Naruto, do you have anyone that is precious to you?"

Naruto cocked his head trying to figure out where the boy in front of him was coming from but said "Yeah, I've got a few."

Haku smiled again, and this time it did meet his eyes as he said "Then you must be truly strong, for I believe that it is only when you are protecting something that is precious to you do you become truly strong."

Naruto smiled and said "A good thing to believe." He then frowned and said "Unfortunately, I know one person who would not agree. His whole clan was killed and he's obsessed with revenge. All he cares about is getting stronger and he thinks that everyone else is just dragging him down."

Haku frowned at this but shook it off and said "Maybe he will come to his senses some day."

"Yeah, maybe." Naruto said softly before seeming to brighten up a bit. Smiling at Haku, he said "Well, I better get going, see ya Haku!" And with a two fingered, salute he turned around and disappeared making Haku go wide eyed.

As Haku recovered from his surprise, he thought 'I hope I can match his speed when the time comes.'

As Naruto ran, he thought 'Now that is one interesting kid.'

Author's notes: Due to the overwhelming faves for this story, I'm moving it into my line up and changing it to a different pattern. Instead of only doing one chapter and then doing the rest before coming back to it after I do one each for the others, I'll put in a new chapter after I do one for another story. I'll keep this up until I reach the VoTE scene.


	5. Final PreparationsMeeting On The Bridge

5. Final Preparations/Meeting On The Bridge

Scene: Tazuna's House

Naruto and Sai were seated next to Tazuna and Tsunami as they ate their dinner waiting for the rest of Team 7 to come in from training. Inari sat across from the two nin glaring at them as he ate.

Hearing the door open, Naruto sent a quick chakra pulse that was so small, only a sensor could sense it if they weren't right next to the blond. Sai rose an eyebrow as Naruto went back to eating unconcerned with whoever was coming in.

Sai understood why as Kakashi walked in with a slightly exhausted Sakura and a moderately tired Sasuke following him. As the three sat down, Kakashi turned to Naruto and said "So how did Sai do?"

Naruto shrugged and said "About as well as can be expected. He got the concept almost instantly but as we both know, it takes more than that when it comes to walking on any kind of liquid." Kakashi nodded as Naruto continued "He was able to stand after about half an hour but it took him a bit longer to learn how to walk around a bit without sinking. He still can't do it while fighting though so we'll have to work on that tomorrow."

Kakashi nodded before he began eating. Turning to the other two Gennin, Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "And how are you two doing?"

Sasuke glared at him while Sakura hesitantly said "I pretty much have it completely mastered. Right now Kakashi-sensei has me running up and down as many times as I can to build up my Chakra reserves. And Sasuke-kun is a little over three-fourths of the way to the top."

Naruto nodded as Sasuke sent Sakura a glare for telling the blond that he still felt was a dead last that he hadn't reached the top yet.

"Why do you even bother?" Inari asked as he glared at them all.

"Come again?" Naruto asked as he took another bite and swallowed before looking at Inari in curiosity.

"I said why do you even bother? It's not like it will help you when Gato comes to kill you all. You're just wasting your time. Gato is invincible and nothing you do will stop him. You don't even know anything about us or this village and yet you come prancing in so happy and carefree, not knowing anything about pain and you make me sick!"

"Inari!" Tsunami said sternly before a raised hand from both Kakashi and Naruto stopped her from berating her child. Naruto shot a questioning look to Kakashi who nodded answering the unspoken question.

Naruto then turned back to Inari and said "Inari, don't talk about what you don't know as if you do. You say we don't know anything about what pain is, but in reality, compared to some of us at this table, you don't even know the meaning of the word."

Inari glared but before he could open his mouth, Naruto continued. "Let me guess. You probably lost someone to Gato right? Most likely your father or someone who was like one to you since it's only you, your mother, and your grandfather living here and that picture on the wall looks like a person has been ripped out of it. Well let me tell you something, you only lost one person, but Uncle Kakashi lost not only his father, but his two teammates and his teacher as well. The Uchiha kid here lost his entire clan in one night. And I've had it even worse. I've seen the dark side of humanity and let me tell you, it is not pretty. I grew up an orphan the day I was born. From day one I was on my own because almost my entire village sees me as worse than an outcast and let me tell you, it was not easy. The orphanage threw me out when I was around three and I've had to live about two and a half years on the streets wondering if I will be able to find my next meal in time. I've had to avoid mobs who wanted to beat me into an inch of my life over as long a period of time as they could before finally finishing me off. Store owners spit in my face and throw me out of their stores almost constantly. And those who do sell to me usually overcharge me or sell me shoddy goods. I can't even make any friends of my own age because parents would always tell their kids that I was either a bad person or even a monster. Some would even beat me if I even tried to speak to their kids. You think you got it bad? You have no idea how truly blessed you are to live like you do. You at least still have your mother and grandfather. So don't say that I don't know what pain is because in my eyes you're just a little kid who can't handle the real world. People die Inari. It's a fact of life that none of us can escape. Yeah you lost someone when he was killed by Gato, but you aren't the first person to lose someone and you sure as hell won't be the last. It's not the pain that we face in our lives that define us but how we handle it. There are those like you who throw themselves pity parties all their lives doing nothing about it. And then there are those like your grandfather who feels the pain but still goes on doing his absolute best to make a difference. Think about that and then ask yourself this. Do you want to continue doing nothing as the pain constantly builds on itself, or do you want to do your absolute best to make sure nothing like the event happens again? Well you stand up in the night and stand firm, or well you let the darkness consume you? Only you can make that choice Inari, and there will come a time when you must choose. And that choice well have an impact so large on your life that you will only be able to tell how much it did years from the event."

Everyone besides Kakashi was staring at him as he stood up and walked out of the house.

As the door to the house closed, Tazuna turned to Kakashi and said "If I wasn't looking at him as he said that, I would have thought an adult was doing the talking."

Kakashi nodded as he sighed and said "He's had to grow up faster than anyone else in his generation."

"Was he telling the truth? Did he really have it that bad?" Tsunami asked as she wiped away the tears that had sprouted during Naruto's little speech.

"Worse." Kakashi said before turning to Inari and said "Naruto is right Inari. Everyone feels pain at some point in their life, but it's how you handle it that shows what kind of person you really are."

Kakashi then stood up and went up the stairs to the room he was sharing with the other males. As he did, Sakura and Sasuke pondered what Naruto told them since they had no idea how rough his life had been. The only thing that they had seen when they saw Naruto had been the smiling idiot who was always claiming that he was going to be Hokage.

Sai was going over the information that Naruto had gave as well and thought 'So that is how he is so strong while still so young. He had to become stronger than most to survive. Danzo-sama was right, he is not one to be underestimated.'

Scene Change: Forest Clearing

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

As the call went out, numerous clones appeared in bursts of smoke as the original stood in front of them.

"All right, listen up! I want all but five of you to work on moving through this forest as fast as you can without using our sonar technique. We're good up to low Jounin speeds, so lets see if we can't reach mid Jounin by morning. Remember to create and dispel every hour and a half. Understood?"

"Hai!"

"Get to it!"

Most of the clones took off leaving only the five clones who were at the front of the group. Naruto grinned as he looked at them while reaching into his kunai pouch with both hands and said "Well then, shall we get started?"

The five clones gave predatory grins as they also reached into their kunai pouches. In one simultaneous movement, the six blonds brought out their hands with the kunai twirling around their fingers before ending in reverse grips and disappeared. For the next three hours, the only thing that the clones working on night time travel without the sonar technique could hear was one practically continuous sound of metal against metal.

Scene Change: Tazuna's House

The next morning, everyone was seated at the kitchen table eating breakfast except for one blond.

Sakura glanced at the empty seat that had a plate placed in front of it before turning to her teacher and said "Kakashi-sensei, don't you think one of us should go looking for him?"

Kakashi chuckled and said "Now Sakura, I know you're worried that Naruto didn't come back in, but if there is one thing that I have learned about Naruto from all the years that I've known him, it's that he almost always comes back before losing consciousness."

Sakura frowned at this not really reassured by her sensei. The sound of the front door opening caught everyone's attention as Naruto tiredly shuffled in. Most of the people seated at the table widened their eyes or raised their eyebrows as they noticed all of the slashes and tears on Naruto's clothes.

As Naruto sat down with a tired grunt and pulled his plate towards him, Kakashi chuckled and said "So how many did you get up to and last against Naruto?"

Naruto tiredly took a bite out of his breakfast and swallowed before saying "Five, and we went all night. Wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have about a hundred clones working on moving at night at mid Jounin level speeds without using my technique. Damn clones all decided to pop within a few minutes of each other when the sun rose up when they knew that they were supposed to do one per minute."

Kakashi rose his visible eyebrow and said "Wow. That's pretty good all things considered. Usually you can only go halfway through the night if there's more than three of you."

Sakura looked confused as both Sai and Sasuke gave Naruto calculating looks. Turning back to Kakashi as Naruto began eating again clearly showing that he wanted food at the moment, she said "I don't understand Kakashi-sensei, why would Naruto need to work on moving at Jounin speeds at night if he's already so fast. And what kind of training are you talking about?"

"I'm right here you know." Naruto said with his mouth full before swallowing and said "To answer your question Haruno, yes thanks to my bloodline I can move faster than probably anyone on the planet, but it gives me tunnel vision when I move as fast as I normally do. To counter act it, I use my huge chakra reserves to make a constant field that is moving away from me that I use sort of like echolocation to be aware of my surroundings. However, if I ever fight that way with a Hyuga or a Uchiha with their dojutsu active, it would effectively blind them for a while if not permanently since they can see chakra. So I have to work on not relying on the technique so much when I move. As for the training I myself did, I merely went against five clones and we fought as fast and hard as we could all night while we had joined the slipstream. Does that answer your questions."

Sakura nodded than cocked her head and said "Wait, what's this slipstream?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed probably planning on somehow joining this slipstream that made Naruto so fast. Poor, ignorant fool.

Naruto smirked as he saw Sasuke's expression and said "Sorry Uchiha, this is one thing the council can't ever be coerced into handing over." Looking back to Sakura who was beginning to glare at Naruto for the statement he said "The slipstream is the name my father gave our bloodline since it doesn't have an official name. Understandable considering he was the first one to find out about it, maybe even the first one to ever have it. It explains the sensation we feel whenever we focus on the feeling of extreme speed it gives us, hence the term joining the slipstream whenever we do."

Naruto took a last couple of hurried bites before standing up and headed out of the kitchen without any sign of being tired calling over his shoulder "Give me a few minutes to get changed and we can head out to the bridge Tazuna. And Sai, don't think I'm going to go easy on you just because I had a training night. I swear I'm going to get you combat water walking by dinner time if it kills me."

Everyone but Kakashi stared at him with slightly dropped jaws before Sakura turned back to Kakashi and asked "Kakashi-sensei, how can he possibly be able to still move like that? He looked exhausted when he first came in."

Kakashi chuckled and said "That's Naruto for you. I've seen him train for two days straight, drop dead on his bed and then three hours later be right back at it again. He has chakra reserves that could make any kage envy him and the stamina to match." 'He's going to make who ever he marries one happy woman in bed.' Kakashi thought to himself giggling perversely drawing weird looks from everyone else that he waved away.

Everyone's attention was brought to the stairs when they heard a shout from upstairs. "Oi Uncle Kakashi! You aren't reading that crap you call literature in front of Inari are you? You know he's only ten right?"

Kakashi sweat dropped as he rubbed the back of his head while Inari looked at him in confusion before saying "Of course not! Why would you think that?"

"Because I know you." Naruto deadpanned as he came down the stairs and walked over to the group and sat back down to finish his meal.

Kakashi somehow teleported to the nearest corner with his back to the others and a storm cloud over his head.

"He used to admire me. Where did that loveable kid who wanted to do everything like me go?" Kakashi asked as anime tears could be seen falling into a puddle.

Naruto and the others sweat dropped before he said "He ran away screaming when you showed him those books of yours."

The miniature storm cloud got even bigger and Kakashi said "I was only trying to show you the greatness that was your godfather's work."

Naruto snorted as he took a bite from his meal and said "That's not greatness, that's a sad man's attempt at showing the world his perverted fantasies and a release to all men for their frustrations at never being able to have their bedroom fantasies come true."

Everyone else's sweat drops grew bigger before Kakashi was suddenly beside Naruto and screaming in his ear "Sacrilege! You take that back you heathen!" right before the back of Naruto's fist implanted in his face causing him to slump to the floor with a pained grunt of "Ow."

Naruto looked down at his father's student while he dug his pinkie into the ear that the silver haired man had shouted into and said "Face it Uncle Kakashi, the only good book that he wrote was the first one. You know, the one with the main character that I'm named after and probably the only book that doesn't have more smut than actual plot that he'll probably ever write?"

Kakashi's hand shakily rose from his face down position as he said "I reject your reality and substitute it with my own."

Naruto snorted and said "Whatever you say Uncle Kakashi." Before taking one last bite and stood up again to place the plate in the sink.

Walking back around the table he said "I'll have a clone waiting for you outside Tazuna. Sai, if your not at the bridge in ten minutes, I'm throwing you're butt into the ocean along with a few kunai attached to some exploding notes."

Right after he said that, Naruto disappeared and it was only the sound of a clone coming into existence immediately after that informed them that Naruto was telling the truth.

Tazuna shook his head and said "That kid is really something else." Taking one last sip of his coffee, he stood up and said "Come on kid, we better get going."

Sai simply nodded and stood up as well before the two walked out of the house together accompanied by Naruto's clone.

Scene Change: Tazuna's Bridge

Naruto reappeared to see what was to him, a rather amusing sight. Most of Naruto's clones who were on guard duty the night before were standing in a line across the entrance of the bridge with Tazuna's workers behind them watching anxiously and a group of thugs in front of them. The supposed spokesperson and leader of the thugs looked as red in the face as a boiled lobster while most of the clones had grins on their faces. The clone directly opposite of the leader was brushing his nails over his shirt and looking for dirt.

The leader of the thug glared at the clone as he did this and said "Now you listen here you brat! I don't care if the original you is here or not! Now step aside and let us through!"

"And why would he do that when it's his job to keep people who are obviously not here to work on the bridge off of it?" Naruto asked as he disappeared and then reappeared in front of his clones surprising the man.

The man and the other thugs quickly got over their shock and he said "Are you the original?"

Naruto looked at him like he was stupid and said "No, I'm a water clone sent to shift the shadow clone guard you moron."

The bridge workers all laughed at this since Naruto had explained to them the differences between the clones he used and the other types of clones that ninjas often used.

The thug's face reddened even more if that was possible and he took a step as he said "You will let us pass right now or else-"

He was unable to get any further as Naruto's fist made residence in his stomach as Naruto glared up at the man as he folded over the fist before taking a quick step back and kicking the man in his jaw so hard that he went flying before crashing into the trunk of a nearby tree causing large cracks to form from the impact. The builders gave a cheer as the thugs looked on in shock.

Naruto turned his glare onto the other thugs who instantly took a step back. Unleashing a bit of killing intent to further unnerve them, he pointed to the fallen man and said "Get him out of here and don't come back."

The men quickly nodded before one of them rushed over to their leader and dragged him away as the others broke out into a run.

Sighing as he watched the men flee, Naruto dispelled the clones before making a fresh batch to help the workers. As he did, he spotted Tazuna and Sai with his clone walking down the path from his house.

As Tazuna walked up and noticed the damaged tree he said "What happened here?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Nothing much. Just showed some thugs why you don't want to mess with a Jounin."

Tazuna studied the blond for another moment before shrugging and went over to his workers who were talking excitedly about how Naruto had handled the situation.

Naruto then noticed Sai staring at him intently and said "What?"

Sai cocked his head as he gave a false smile and said "I'm just contemplating how I don't think I would want to fight you Naruto-san."

Naruto frowned at the formality and said "Just call me Naruto Sai. And why would you have to fight me?"

Sai made a motion of his shoulders that might have been intended to be a shrug and said "You never know." before walking down to the water and stepped on to it trying to get the hang of moving around on the liquid's surface.

Naruto and the clone traded looks before simultaneously rolling their eyes and heading to their respective charges for the day.


	6. Battle On The Bridge

6. Battle On The Bridge

The rest of the week passed quickly and quietly. Sai had mastered combat water walking to a point that he could spar with Naruto for about thirty minutes by the end of the week. Sakura had joined them two days after the day Naruto beat up the thug leader when Kakashi judged her ready to learn the next exercise and be able to do it for more than ten minutes at a time. She took to it just as fast as she did tree climbing but had to near constantly walk around the surface of the water to get her chakra reserves even higher. Sasuke had joined them a day before Sakura but was still the slowest at learning it taking him until the end of the very last day to get up to combat level making the emo even more broody than normal and giving Naruto headaches every time he demanded to be taught a jutsu or something instead.

Now it was the night before they were expecting Zabuza to show up. Following Kakashi's advice, Tazuna had already told the workers to not show up the next day and the Gennin were showing signs of nervousness and anxiety. Well Sakura and Sasuke were. Sai looked as cool as he always did, but Naruto blamed that on the Root training he had been given.

After dinner, Naruto had taken Inari outside and the two were now sitting on a dock looking out across the water. As the two stared at the reflection of the moon with their knees to their chest's Naruto glanced over at Inari and reached into his kunai pouch.

Handing the throwing knife to the kid who looked at him in curiosity he said "Here, use this if things get rough tomorrow. I'll leave some clones that should handle anyone who gets close but it's always better to have a backup plan. Make sure you keep that on you at all times alright?"

Inari nodded and accepted the blade staring at it for a minute before putting the blade in his pocket. As he stared out at the water again, he said "Thanks Naruto."

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "For what Inari?"

Inari looked back at Naruto and said "You were right. I've been nothing but a big baby ever since I lost dad. But now I plan on changing that."

Naruto smiled and ruffled the younger boy's hair and said "I'm sure you will Inari."

Scene Change: Next Day Tazuna's Bridge

As the Leaf nin along with Tazuna came upon the bridge, they saw mist that was thicker than usual clinging to it blocking their view of the end of the bridge. Naruto had already informed Kakashi that Zabuza had been in the area and the older nin had ordered Naruto to dispel the clones so that way they could draw Zabuza out.

"Look's like the party's about ready to start." Naruto said earning a nod from Kakashi.

Turning to his students he said "Don't leave Tazuna's side."

Getting nods from the Gennin, the group began walking through the mist.

Once they were halfway down the bridge, Naruto held up a hand stopping everyone and called out in a sing song voice "Oh Zabuza! Where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are!"

As everyone besides Kakashi who simply rose an eyebrow stared at him, a dark chuckling echoed around the area before the mist died down a little revealing two figures in the mist.

"Why did you have to tell the bridge workers not to come today? I was looking forward to having some fun." said the tallest figure.

Kakashi shrugged and said "Sorry, but I think the workers preferred having all of their body parts remain connected to each other."

Naruto meanwhile was staring at the smaller figure who turned his head slightly so that it seemed that he was looking at him as well. Naruto pondered his options since he knew who the figure was and wasn't looking forward to fighting the guy.

Coming to a decision, Naruto looked at his superior from the corner of his eye and said "Uncle Kakashi, if I take his coworker out of the equation, do you think you can hold Zabuza back for a short while without killing him?"

Kakashi looked down at Naruto with confusion in his eye as he said "Yes, but why would I do that?"

"Because I plan on showing them that they're working for the wrong person." Naruto said as he continued staring at his newest acquaintance.

"Oh, and how do you plan on doing that?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto turned his head to his fellow Jounin and said "We both have dealt with crime lords before. So you know that Gato's going to betray them so that he doesn't have to pay so much. I'm sure Zabuza's expecting the same thing even if only a little. I just have to show his partner and confirm that fact. Once Zabuza knows that his employer is planning on betraying him, he won't fight anymore."

Kakashi considered what the blond said. On one hand, it could actually make Zabuza drop his mission. On the other hand, the man might not believe Naruto and just continue attacking. Either way though, Zabuza's partner would not be there to back the man up.

Sighing, Kakashi nodded to Naruto who closed his eyes and concentrated as he began opening the water gates to the dam that held back his chakra.

As Zabuza felt the chakra presence in the younger Jounin rise, he growled out "Haku, get ready."

"Yes Zabuza-sama."

No one was prepared though when Naruto's chakra presence spiked to unbelievable levels causing a large and very visible pulse of chakra to expand from his body pushing the mist away and revealing the blond coated in a blue shell with his hair blowing around like he was in a wind that only blew around him. As everyone stared at him, an even larger pulse shot out from his body that headed inland.

Locating a large group of chakra presences that were no where near the level of a ninja that wasn't located near the village, Naruto opened his eyes and said "I think I found the bastard. There's a large group headed this way."

Kakashi nodded and said "You've got fifteen minutes. If you're not back by then, I'm taking him out."

Naruto nodded showing he understood before he took off running at low Jounin speeds toward the now visible pair of missing nin. More specifically towards the fake hunter nin. Said nin stiffened in preparation before Naruto disappeared half way to him. Less than an instant later, the masked figure vanished as well.

"What the?" Zabuza exclaimed trying to figure out what happened since his tool hadn't used his jutsu yet.

Kakashi simply chuckled and said "Don't worry, Naruto is simply taking him somewhere private so that we can have a rematch without interference from either side this time."

Zabuza hmphed at this and said "It doesn't matter. I had planned on Haku fighting him anyway."

"Well then, shall we get started?" Kakashi asked as he rose his headband revealing his Sharingan eye.

"Lets." Zabuza said as mist began building again. As the mist closed in, everyone heard Zabuza's disembodied voice saying "This time will be much different Kakashi."

Scene Change: Tazuna's House

The two clones stationed at the bridge builder's house felt the pulse shoot out from the original and both 'saw' two figures heading their ways with swords strapped to their waists in the range that the sonar was usually used at.

Frowning, one of the clones began walking toward the forest where the two swordsmen were and said "I'll handle this."

He was stopped by the other clone grabbing his shoulder. Turning to his comrade in confusion, the first saw the second look towards the house.

"Lets see how he handles this. We can step in before it gets out of hand."

The first clone considered for a moment before nodding. The two clones then went around the house to wait.

Ten minutes later, Inari was helping his mother in the kitchen when they heard the sound of wood being sliced apart. Both of their eyes widened when the two swordsmen stepped into the kitchen.

'Those are the men who killed Dad!' Inari thought as a similar thought ran through Tsunami's head.

"Heh, lookie here, aren't you a cute one." One of the swordsmen who was bald said.

"Heh, I didn't know the old man had a grandson. Oh well, just one more thing I can cut up." The other one who was wearing a cap over his silver hair said looking at Inari.

Inari swallowed before he remembered what Naruto had told him that night at the table. Stepping in front of his mother he pulled out the kunai Naruto had given to him and held it in a reverse grip like the blond had told him drawing raised eyebrows from the two swordsmen.

"I'm not going to let you hurt my mom! You took my dad, I'm not letting you take her!" Inari said with a lot more confidence than he felt.

"Heh, look at this kid. He actually thinks he can stop us. Lets show him how wrong he is." The bald man said as both took a step forward and began to draw their blades.

Their hands had only reached their hilts though when both felt cool metal against their throats. Inari and Tsunami's eyes widened when the two clones seemed to appear out of thin air behind the swordsmen with their kunai already out in revers grips and in position.

"Maybe he is not ready yet." The first clone started.

"But he is on the right track." The second finished before looking at Inari and nodded.

Inari returned the nod as he sighed in relief before the first clone said "So you're the guys who killed Inari's father huh? Normally we would just kill you and be done with it, but I think it would be better to let the villagers give you a trial and let them serve justice."

Both swordsmen then fell unconscious due to the clones slamming the rings of their kunai against their foreheads faster than anyone could see.

As the first clone began tying the two up, the second walked over to Inari and ruffled the kid's hair as he said "Good job Inari."

"Thanks Naruto." Inari said before looking down and said "But I was so scared, I really thought they were going to kill me before you appeared."

The clone smiled and said "It's alright to be scared Inari. All humans are at one time or another. But like pain, it's what you do when you experience it that makes a difference. Bravery isn't the absence of fear. It is when you overcome it. And today you took your first step in doing so. Now come on, we have to get these two to the proper authorities and we don't want to leave you or your mom alone."

Inari nodded as the first clone picked up the swordsmen in fireman lifts and followed the others as they led the way to the village.

Scene Change: Gato's Dock Thirty Seconds After Second Pulse

Haku suddenly reappeared stumbling in front of a dock that held a large boat that belonged to Gato. He shook his head from the disorienting effects of being grabbed and then rushed to another place so far away in almost as little time as the blink of an eye before the boy noticed where he was.

Looking around at the dock, he thought 'What am I doing here? Better yet, where's Naruto?'

He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the sound of a lot of people moving on the path through the forest making no attempt whatsoever to hide their passing. Turning around to look, he saw a bunch of people walking down the path with Gato at its head.

The man sneered and said "What are you doing here brat? I would have thought you would have been with that wuss Zabuza. Oh well, this just makes things easier. Might as well start with him boys."

The crowd gave a cheer as they started advancing.

Haku frowned behind his mask and said "What is the meaning of this?"

Gato laughed and said "Isn't it obvious? I never planned on paying your baby of a master. It's much cheaper to hire these thugs to take you out once the job is done. Still like I said, since you're here, we might as well get started. Consider this payback for breaking my arm you brat."

Haku stiffened and was about to reach for his senbon needles when he heard a disembodied voice say "Yeeeaah, I don't think so." causing everyone to stiffen. A second later, all of the thugs suddenly all fell to the ground as one as if some grand puppet master had got tired of using all of them. Gato's eyes widened as he saw that each thug had a hole in the back of their head with blood slowly seeping out.

Haku himself was sweating nervously behind his mask as he thought 'That could have been me and Zabuza-sama.'

Naruto suddenly appeared in front of the midget scaring him even further as he grinned before leaning in and said "Boo." in a dark voice.

"Ah!" Gato yelled out in fear as he fell on his butt and did his best to get as far away from the blond by crawling backwards with one of his arms in a cast.

Naruto smirked at this and said "You've been a bad boy Gato. Driving people to the brink of their existence just to satisfy your own greed. It's time for you to be judged."

"No, please! I'll give you whatever you want! Money! Women! Land! Whatever you want!" Gato said in fear as he continued to crawl away from the blond who had begun taking small steps toward the crime lord while Haku merely stood watching.

"Whatever I want." Naruto mused before saying "Alright, I'll let you live if you give me one thing."

Gato's eyes showed his relief as he said "Of course, whatever you want!"

Naruto's eyes hardened and he said "I want you to bring back Inari's father and everyone else you killed."

Gato's eyes widened even further than before. Just as he began stuttering a response to the demand, Naruto disappeared and Gato's head separated from his neck as Naruto reappeared behind the body with it in one hand and a kunai with wind swirling around in his other.

Naruto spat at the body and said "He got off easy in my opinion. Don't you think so Haku?"

Haku jerked and said "You knew?"

Naruto nodded and said "Since I spotted you leaving Gato's base that day. Come on, lets go tell Zabuza that his contract is over."

Haku nodded and Naruto disappeared. An instant later Haku vanished without a trace as well leaving only the dead bodies with blood pulling around them to give evidence of what happened.

Scene Change: Tazuna's Bridge

Kakashi was staring at Zabuza who was staring back at Kakashi as he was held in place by Kakashi's ninja dog summons. A short distance away Tazuna and the Gennin were looking on wondering why Kakashi wasn't finishing the job.

"Why don't you just finish the job Kakashi? I wouldn't have expected a man like you to be so hesitant to kill your opponent."

Kakashi shrugged and said "Just waiting for Naruto and your partner to get back."

Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he said "What do you mean?"

Kakashi was saved from having to answer when everyone heard a voice say "Dang Uncle Kakashi, when I said hold Zabuza up for a little bit, I didn't mean literally."

Everyone looked past the two figures where Naruto was standing beside Haku who was shaking his head from the sensation of being transported so far so fast a second time. Everyone's eyes were then drawn to the head in his hand as it dripped some blood onto the bridge.

Sakura's hand instantly went to her mouth as she tried to keep her breakfast down while Tazuna and Sasuke had similar problems but were handling it better. Sai merely raised an eyebrow at the sight.

Zabuza's eyes widened as Naruto tossed the head to his feet and said "Your contract's over Zabuza. Good thing too in my opinion since Gato never planned to pay you."

"He's speaking the truth Zabuza-sama. I heard it from the man's mouth myself and he had a bunch of men coming to the bridge with him. He said he was going to betray us once the deed was done." Haku said as he took off his mask.

"I see." Zabuza said as he sighed and then looked Kakashi in the eye and said "Can you please get these damn mutts off of me?"

Scene Change: Village Center

That night, the whole village was in the village center celebrating their freedom. As some of the villagers sorted through everything Naruto and his clones had retrieved from Gato's base the others were having a feast and dancing. Zabuza and Haku looked down from the roof of one of the stores. On either side were Kakashi and Naruto.

"So what now Zabuza?" Kakashi asked as he saw his students in the crowd. Sakura was fully enjoying the atmosphere while Sasuke watched the activities dispassionately while Sai was off to one side drawing.

"Not sure. I guess it's back to the road for me." Zabuza said.

"You could always join the Leaf. We could put in a good word with the Hokage." Naruto said as he watched the people below him.

Zabuza shook his head and said "He wouldn't allow it. Not if he doesn't want trouble from the Hidden Mist village for harboring one of their missing nin. No, I'm afraid that life on the run is the only one I have in store for me now. Although I think I may hang around here for a while."

Naruto frowned before Zabuza caught his attention as he said "Kakashi, well you do something for me?"

Kakashi glanced over at the man and said "What is it?"

"I want you to take Haku back to the Leaf with you. He's not an actual missing nin so your Hokage should be able to let him in."

Haku's eyes widened and he said "Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza turned to the boy he secretly thought of as a son and said "Listen to me Haku. I don't want life on the run to be the only thing that defines your life. It'll be better for you if you had a place you can call home and not have to constantly worry about hunter nin."

"But." Haku started before Zabuza held up a hand and said "But nothing kid. You've served me well. But now it's time for you to find your own dream."

Haku began to tear up before Naruto put a hand on his shoulder causing him to look at him as he said "I'll make sure he's taken care of."

Zabuza nodded and said "Thanks brat."

Scene Change: Three Days Later

It didn't take long for the bridge to be completed now that all of the villagers could help without needing to fear for them and their family's safety. Once it was, it was time for the Leaf nin and Haku to head home.

As the small group stood at the foot of the bridge with the village in front of them, Tazuna stepped forward and said "Thank you for everything you've done for us."

"It was our pleasure." Kakashi said as he shook the hand the bridge builder offered him.

Zabuza then stepped forward and placed his hand on Haku's shoulder and said "Grow strong Haku."

Haku nodded and said "I will Zabuza-sama."

Naruto noticed Inari crying and stepped over to the boy and ruffled his hair.

"I promised myself I wouldn't cry ever again." Inari said as he looked down.

Naruto smiled and said "It's alright to cry Inari. Crying when someone says goodbye is just a way to show the bond you have with that person. Take good care of everybody all right?"

Inari nodded and Naruto rejoined his group as the rest said their goodbyes before turning around and began walking across the bridge.

One of the villagers looked thoughtful and said "By the way, what are we going to call the bridge?"

Tazuna rubbed his chin in thought and said "How about the Bridge of New Beginnings?"

"Sounds good to me." Inari said drawing agreement from the others.


	7. Getting A Partner

7. Getting A Partner

Forest Treetops En Route To The Hidden Leaf Village

Naruto shot through the trees beside Kakashi with Team 7 behind them. On Naruto's other side, Haku looked like he was on autopilot as he silently jumped from branch to branch.

As the air whistled from the shinobi's passage, Naruto considered how he was going to watch over Haku when he joined the Leaf ranks like he promised Zabuza. The Old Man he wouldn't have a problem with. It was the council that Naruto was worried about. Knowing the civilian side and some of the shinobi members, they would most likely try to force Haku to form his own clan and there was no way Naruto was going to let them push Haku around just so that they could get a bunch of ice wielding shinobi in the future. He'd rather tell the entire Hidden Stone Village about his heritage than let a friend of his be manipulated like that.

Naruto's face hardened into determination as he decided on what he would do. The civilians wanted a clan? Well they would get one. A clan that was known to be as fierce as the whirlpools they lived near. It was time for Naruto to remind the council of the alliance the village had made with his mother's homeland.

Kakashi noticed Naruto's expression change out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head to the blond, he said "What is it Naruto?"

Naruto waited until he had shot off the next tree branch before saying "You know their going to try and force Haku to make a clan right?"

Haku jerked out of his thoughts at this while Kakashi nodded and said "Yes, but I doubt Lord Hokage-sama will allow that."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to take any chances. I gave Zabuza my word that I would take care of Haku and I plan on keeping that promise." Naruto said.

Haku smiled and thought 'Thank you Naruto, I only hope I can stand by you when your time of need comes.'

Kakashi frowned and said "What are you planning Naruto?"

Naruto's eyes gained a mischievous look as he grinned like the fox demon he contained as he said "If the council tries anything, they well experience first hand what made my clan so formidable."

Sasuke and Sakura perked up in interest when they heard that Naruto actually came from a clan.

'Naruto actually has a clan? But I thought he was an orphan?' Sakura thought.

'The dead last has a clan? Hmph, no matter, it couldn't have been much of a clan if I've never heard of it.' Sasuke thought with a frown.

Kakashi frowned and said "Be careful Naruto. The council can make things incredibly difficult for you if you anger them."

Naruto scoffed and said "Like they haven't already tried to make my life a living hell as often as possible? Let them try. I'll send them on such a loop they'll be trying to make sense of things for a week afterwards and I'm not talking about using my bloodline either."

"You reveal you're status and they might force you into the CRA." Kakashi warned.

Naruto snorted and said "Let them try. Everyone seems to forget that little law is completely voluntary. Not even the Hokage could force someone into it even if he wanted to."

Sasuke's eyes widened at this information since everyone had told him that he would be obligated to have more than one wife since he was the last loyal Uchiha. Hence a number of the more rabid fan girls trying to gang rape him every now and then so that he would have to marry all of them.

Naruto smirked as he 'saw' Sasuke's expression with his sonar technique that he had activated for just that purpose. Looking over his shoulder he said "So Uchiha, are you planning on being told to use the CRA? Probably be the only way the council could get little Uchihas since you seem to want everyone to think you're gay."

'Oh boy.' Kakashi thought as Sasuke saw red and launched himself with a war cry at a, in his opinion, way too annoying blond to let live who was maniacally laughing as he easily avoided the enraged Uchiha and kept bouncing from tree branch to tree branch avoiding the kunai, shuriken, and even occasional fireball sent his way.

Sakura was blushing both from embarrassment at one thing that Naruto had implied and anger at another as she shouted out to the two boys who were constantly moving ahead of the group.

"Get him Sasuke-kun! Make him suffer!"

Kakashi sighed and thought to himself 'I thought I asked him not to antagonize them.'

Haku sweat dropped and thought 'How can someone be so mature one minute and then act like that in the next?'

Sai merely raised an eyebrow and said "I don't see what putting dick less through the CRA would accomplish. It wouldn't matter how many women marry him if he doesn't have the proper tools to make a clan."

Kakashi's eye widened as he knew what was about to happen next as he looked back over his shoulder. Sure enough, Sakura's face had reddened even further as a dark aura surrounded her.

"Saai." Sakura ground out before launching herself at the boy who gained a fake smile and dodged the girl's charge much the same way as Naruto did with Sasuke as the two shot through the forest with the kunoichi trying to kill the Root operative.

Haku sweat dropped again as Kakashi sighed. Turning to the scarecrow Jounin he said "I'm going to have to get used to this aren't I?"

"I'm afraid so. At least Naruto isn't a part of Team 7 so it shouldn't happen too often." Kakashi said as a particularly large fire ball was seen exploding up ahead followed by Naruto's laughter as he shouted "Hey Sasuke! I think I felt a breeze that time!" Followed by Sasuke's roar of anger.

Kakashi sighed again before saying "Come on, we better catch up to them."

"I'm not sure I actually want to." Haku said before the two increased their pace to be right behind the two pairs of attempted murderers and their tormentors.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village Main Gate

It was just another boring day for Kotetsu and Izumo as they were once again assigned gate duty. That is until Naruto and Sai landed side by side and turned around just as a panting Sasuke and Sakura landed behind them.

"You two enjoy your exercise?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow as Kakashi and Haku landed behind the exhausted pair of Gennin.

"I'm going to kill you Dead Last. Slowly. Painfully." Sasuke growled out to exhausted to attack the blond anymore.

"You know flat chest, I'm surprised you can actually be a ninja. I would have thought that an abnormal forehead such as yours would make getting to places quite a task. And dickless seems to be missing more than just his tool. He had no stamina what so ever. How he will survive in bed is beyond me."

"Sai, when I get through with you, not even the tracking teams will be able to find you. There won't be anything left." Sakura growled out also too tired to actually follow with her threat.

Kakashi stepped forward and put a hand on each of the exhausted Gennin's shoulders and said "Now, now. Lets not fight now that we're home."

Haku merely shook his head and thought 'What have I gotten myself into?'

Naruto simply smirked before turning back around and walked over to the gate booth and signed the team in as he said "Team 7 and Jounin Naruto Uzumaki returning from mission to Wave with possible new recruit Haku Momochi."

Haku's head turned so fast Kakashi actually heard it crack a little as he stared at the blond in surprise.

"Zabuza asked that you take his name when you joined us." Kakashi said as Haku switched his attention to the scarecrow standing next to him.

As Haku was trying to work out what he was feeling from that revelation, Naruto was enjoying a nice conversation with the Eternal Chunnin as the two were often called.

"What did you say to make the kid so mad?" Kotetsu asked as he glanced at the still panting Uchiha who was currently trying to burn a hole into Naruto's back with his glare.

Naruto smirked and said "Not much really. Just said that the council forcing him to take part in the CRA was the only way they would get more Uchihas since he seems determined to make everyone think he was gay."

The two guardsmen chuckled and Izumo said "And their other teammate?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Well I was already ahead of them when he got Haruno mad as well but I think it was along the lines that no amount of women could make Uchiha's clan come back since he doesn't have the necessary tools. Then he just started insulting the both of them when the two caught up."

The two chuckled again as they shook their heads and Izumo said "Yep, that sounds like something Sai would say alright."

Naruto chuckled as well and said "Yeah, I get the feeling that he doesn't really respect those two."

"That's putting it lightly. Sai seems to feel that if he doesn't insult those two at least five times a day each then he has failed some personal mission of his." Kakashi said as he and Haku joined the three.

Naruto smirked and said "Sounds like a guy I wouldn't mind working with every now and then."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow and said "Even if he started insulting you?"

Naruto's smirk turned into a good natured smile and he said "Uncle Kakashi, in my line of work, you have to learn how to honorably take as much as you give, and I've given a lot."

Kakashi and the two Chunnin chuckled and Izumo said "That's certainly true. I still remember that one time you gave all of the Nara's deer red glowing noses and placed blow up Santa Clauses all over their clan grounds three years ago."

Haku stared at Naruto as the blond chuckled and said "Yeah, that was fun. Well, we better get going. I'm sure the Old Man knows we're back already and probably wants our report as soon as possible."

Kakashi nodded and turned back to his Gennin where Sai was taking advantage of the other two's exhausted states by being more insulting than usual.

"Okay, you three. Naruto and I are going to go report to the Hokage so you three have the rest of the day off. You guys also have the next few days off since you completed a C-rank mission. Be at our training ground in three days for more missions."

As Sakura and Sasuke mumbled out their replies and Sai nodded, Naruto grabbed his two companions and disappeared.

Scene Change: Hokage's Office

Sarutobi looked up from the scroll he was reading at his desk as he sensed Naruto's chakra in the room the instant he appeared in his office with Haku and Kakashi shaking their heads trying to shake loose the cobwebs.

"Ugh, I hate it when you do that." Kakashi said as he gathered his bearings.

"Agreed," Haku said.

Sarutobi rose an eyebrow and said "Nice to have you back you two. Now, as much as I'm interested in who this young man is, SOP demands that I hear out your report first so could you please tell me how your mission went?"

The two Jounin nodded and Kakashi began giving their report with Naruto interjecting here and there where he was more involved.

Once the report was finished, Sarutobi sighed and placed his arms on his desk and leaned forward to study Haku who did his best not to fidget as he became nervous from the man's stare.

"So Zabuza asked you to bring his apprentice into our ranks?"

The two nodded and Sarutobi sighed again and said "If this was almost anyone else we were talking about I wouldn't have a problem with it but considering that man's history-"

Naruto stepped forward as the old man trailed off and said "Hokage-sama, what is the one thing that you said was my greatest strength?"

Sarutobi could tell how serious Naruto was about this seeing as he had used his formal title and as he focused on the blond decided to be straight to the point as well and said "Your ability to judge people." He sighed again before continuing "Very well Naruto, I'll accept Haku into our ranks but you will be held responsible for him. Am I understood."

Naruto nodded and said "Crystal sir."

Sarutobi nodded as well and focused back on Haku and said "Now then Haku, if you're going to be joining the ranks of my ninja, I need to know just what exactly you can do."

Haku nodded and said "I have a bloodline that allows me to naturally mix wind and water natured chakra into ice natured chakra. I know various D to B ranked water Jutsu although I primarily use Ice jutsu. My strongest jutsu is one that surrounds my opponents with a dome of ice mirrors that I can travel through at speeds that are the faster than most high level Jounin. I am highly accurate with senbon needle and have a vast knowledge of medical first aid and how to use herbs effectively in making medicine."

"I see. Well it's nice knowing that I'll have another shinobi who can help out in the field if his comrades are injured but you having a bloodline may prove to be a bit of a problem in the near future." Sarutobi said as he felt a headache coming.

"You mean the council most likely trying to make me form a clan." Haku said.

Sarutobi nodded knowing that Naruto was most likely the one to let the boy know.

Before he could say anything, said blond said "Hokage-sama, as clan heir of the Uzumaki clan, I am recommending Haku Momochi to be placed under clan guardianship."

Sarutobi's eyes snapped over to the blond in surprise as he said "Naruto, we've discussed what announcing your status would cause."

Naruto nodded and said "I know that it well only give me more grief from the council Old Man. But I am NOT going to let them turn Haku into breeding stock. Even the Uchiha doesn't deserve that fate. And if they try to throw that CRA on me when I tell them then I'll just shove it right up their butts. I've taken a lot from those guys, but this is one thing I will fight for."

Everyone heard the determination in Naruto's voice and Sarutobi saw a fire in the blonde's eyes that he hadn't seen since he had told Naruto about his parents that night seven years ago. Sarutobi grinned. If the council tried anything, Naruto would give them such a headache they wouldn't be able to look at anything shinobi related for a month.

"Very well Naruto, as of this moment, Haku Momochi is currently under the protection of the Uzumaki clan. All decisions that affect him must be brought to you before any measures are taken. As such, it falls upon you to make sure his needs are taken care of. I will also be making him your partner on missions. Do you find this acceptable?"

Naruto nodded and said "I do."

Sarutobi nodded as well and said "Very well then." Bringing his focus to Kakashi he said "I'm afraid that this will have to be a private conversation from now on Kakashi. You're dismissed."

Kakashi nodded and turned to walk out of the door.

After the door closed, Sarutobi focused back on Naruto and said "Now then, if you're going to make this official, even if it's just with the council, there are a few things we must go over. For starters, am I to assume that you want me to still vote for your clan if you are unable to attend a council meeting?"


	8. This Is Why I Hate Politics Take One

8. This Is Why I Hate Politics Take One

Naruto closed the door to the Hokage's office as Haku massaged his temples.

"Are all things related to politics like that?" Haku asked as the two began walking out.

"Nah, some are worse." Naruto said lightly as he nodded to Mrs. Reinas who returned it with a small smile before going back to her own work.

As the two began walking through the hall that led to the main stair well, Haku glanced over at Naruto before focusing back in front of him as he said "Thanks. For everything."

Naruto smiled and said "Don't mention it Haku. You're my friend and I make it a point of making sure nothing happens to my friends if I can do anything about it. Now come on, we've got a tour to go on and then I'll show you where your apartment will be."

Haku looked confused and said "But the Hokage didn't say where I would be staying."

Naruto grinned and said "Because he didn't have to. And I quote: 'it falls upon you to make sure his needs are taken care of.' That includes where you'll be living. Luckily, the apartment that's next door to mine is empty. I'm sure Mr. Adregas won't mind you moving in. He and the rest of my neighbors are fairly agreeable people."

Haku nodded and said "I'm glad. Some of the people Zabuza-sama and I had to room with over the years weren't the best of neighbors at times."

Naruto chuckled and said "I bet. But I'm pretty certain that as long as you aren't shaking the building with any loud music, these neighbors well be a lot more friendly with you."

Haku smiled and said "I'm sure they will be too. So where are we going first?"

Naruto smiled and said "Well, I don't know about you but I'm hungry so I was thinking of showing you my favorite restaurant first."

Haku nodded and said "Sounds good."

Scene Change: The Next Day

Naruto hated being right. Especially when it came to the council. Right now he was standing in front of them with Haku standing by his side ready to give the council hell as they glared at him while he smirked at what he had planned. It was too bad, Naruto was looking forward to the day's activities that he had planned.

Flashback

Naruto was in Haku's apartment as he made breakfast for his new teammate while said ice user was sitting at his table.

"You don't have to do this you know." Haku said.

"Think of it as a house warming gift. Besides, I need to know that you are well fed for what I have planned for us today."

"What you have planned?" Haku asked.

"Yeah." Naruto said as he turned off the oven and brought over the bacon and eggs that he had made and placed it next to the toast as he continued "I want to see just what exactly you can do. Especially with this ice mirror trick of yours. Well that and I think we could teach each other a few things as well since you and me actually share the same elemental affinities. The only real difference between us is that while you mainly use your water element, I'm more of a wind type. With any luck, we could teach each other how to use our secondary affinities better."

Haku nodded and said "I think that would be extremely beneficial to both of us."

Naruto nodded as he sat down and the two began eating.

Ten minutes later the two boys were cleaning the dishes they heard someone knocking on the door.

Naruto and Haku traded glances and Naruto said "I told you we would be called on sooner or later."

Scene Change: Council Chambers

As Naruto and Haku approached the doors to the council chambers, Naruto said "Unless I say otherwise let me do all the talking. There's a certain way you have to handle the civilians if you want to come out of any council meeting with your sanity fully intact."

Haku nodded and said "Understood. Am I to assume that I should pay attention to how you handle these civilians for future reference?"

Naruto smiled at Haku as he placed one hand on the door handle said "You would be correct. Now, watch and learn."

And with that, Naruto swung open the door causing it to bang against the wall as he strode in with a confident air and said "All right people, lets get this meeting between clowns and those who actually do something meaningful with their lives over with."

Haku stared at Naruto as he joined the smirking blond who was standing next to the Hokage who along with the other shinobi in the room were either smirking at Naruto's statement or at least showed amusement in their eyes. The civilians on the other hand were glaring holes at Naruto but who cares about them anyway?

"Well then, now that everyone is here, we can get this meeting underway. For those that don't know, we were discussing the possibilities of Haku Momochi being eligible for the CRA." Sarutobi said as he mentally chuckled at the civilians who were still glaring at one of his favorite Jounin.

"Now hold on!" One of the civilians said as he stood up and pointed an accusing finger at the blond. "What is the de- I mean brat doing here? This doesn't concern him at all!"

"Oh but it does." Naruto said. "You see, as clan heir of the Uzumaki clan, I have brought Haku under clan protection. Therefore, any decisions that affect him must be brought to my attention before anything can be finalized."

"WHAT?"

The shinobi in the room all dug their pinkies in at least one of their ears as all of the civilians shouted out at once.

"What idiocy are you talking about you brat? You don't HAVE a clan!" One particularly nasty civilian asked.

Naruto snorted and said "So am I to assume that the spiral on not only this village's Chunnin and Jounin vests but also in our very own village symbol is the mark of some other clan that this village has an alliance with other than the Uzumakis from the Hidden Whirlpool Village that my mother was a part of? Or have you guys forgotten that it was the Uzumakis including me that have kept the Kyubi from wiping this village off the face of the earth for three generations? Or could it be that you have forgotten what the Uzumaki clan's status was in this village? Need I remind you that my great grandaunt, Mito Uzumaki was the wife of the First Hokage?" (I know Naruto is somehow related to her but I don't know the actual lineage.)

Haku's eyes widened as the implications of what Naruto just said settled in her mind. Meanwhile, the civilians and even some of the shinobi's eyes had also widened and most of them were stuttering.

Naruto decided to build on his momentum and said "You people seem to forget that I was chosen to be the prison of the Kyubi for a reason. We Uzumakis are the only ones who can without a doubt fully contain and control a biju once it is sealed inside of us. And yet you constantly mix me up with the damn fox and do your best to make my life a living hell. Well I draw the line when you mess with people that are my friends and under my protection. You want a clan, well you got one now. As of this moment, I declare the Uzumaki clan to be properly secured and am reclaiming my council seat."

The civilians erupted into shouting as the shinobi side all leaned back in their chairs and shook their heads. Most of them had known something would cause Naruto to snap for a while now. After all, a person can only take so much and the Uzumakis were known for being fierce warriors. Add the fact that they were just as fiercely loyal to those they called friends and you had someone who was going to most likely make the civilian's lives hell from this period on.

"Am I to assume that you agree to partake in the Clan Restoration Act Uzumaki?" Danzo asked from his seat drawing everyone's attention again.

"Hell no." Naruto said. "You guys seem to have also forgotten that that thing is completely voluntary. There is no way I'm going to allow any one to chain me down in some political marriage and in my opinion anyone else that does is certifiably insane. I refuse to let myself or anyone else that I care about to become some glorified breeding stock for someone who just wants to increase their standing. Now if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than waste my time dealing with you, so can we please go?"

Before the civilians could sputter out a response, Sarutobi said "Meeting adjourned."

"Thank you." Naruto said as he nodded to the old man before he and Haku disappeared.

Scene Change: Hokage Monument

Naruto and Haku reappeared in the blonde's training ground. Shaking his head, Naruto said "This is why I hate politics. Everyone is scrabbling to get the bigger bone and get such big heads that it's a wonder their backs don't snap from the weight."

"That was very… interesting how you handled that situation Naruto-sama." Haku said as he once again tried to get over the effects of being transported so far and fast under someone else's power.

"Yeah well hopefully we won't have to deal with them again for a few more days. And what have I told you about being so formal with me? Just Naruto is fine." Naruto said as he began walking further into the training ground.

As Haku fell into step with his partner he asked "Was it true what you said back there? Do you really contain the Kyubi and are related to the First Hokage's wife?"

"Yep." Naruto said. "Now come on, I want to see how you fast you can actually go in that mirror house jutsu of yours."

Author Notes: Just a little something showing Naruto how he handled the council when it came to Haku that should have been part of the last chapter. Not short enough to be an omake but too long to put with the next chapter where Naruto and Haku join Team 8 for a quick mission before the prelims.


	9. Preview Chapter

9. Preview Chapter

As the feathers began falling Naruto rose his right hand and purple flames appeared on his fingertips before he disappeared. Gaara's eyes widened as he folded over the blonde's hand and lost conciousness.

As he did, enemy nin dropped their disguises only to be brought down by senbon needles thrown by a figure who darted through mirrors that had appeared all around the arena in an instant.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled out in fear for her brother as she and Kankoru rushed towards the two.

Naruto took out two kunai from his pouch and sent them spinning end over end at the two. The two kunai missed them by the barest of margins before swinging around the two sand shinobi and wrapping them in the chakra strings that had been connected to their middles. Naruto made a fist and yanked on the strings sending the two flying before suddenly stopping as Naruto intercepted their flight paths with half fisted hands inn their stomachs knocking the two out as well. Naruto then spun and thrust out his arm sending a huge blast of wind out slamming into the sand trio's Jounin sensei who had tried to sneak up on the blond. The man shot across the arena and impacted the far wall before falling over unconscious.

Naruto turned his head to Sasuke who had stood frozen during all this and said "Oi, Uchiha! Get your act together and go meet up with Uncle Kakashi!"

Sasuke shook his head before jumping up into the arena seating to find his Jounin sensei.

Scene Change: Village Wall

Three large clouds of smoke suddenly appeared in the forest outside of the forest as war cries sounded. The clone that faced the left and right snakes both took out a vial that contained blood and poured the contents onto their palms before taking out a pill and popping it into their mouths. The two then jumped off the wall while they ran through hand signs.

As cries of "Summoning Jutsu!" rang out, two more large clouds of smoke appeared before dispersing and revealing the blondes standing on top of two of the big three. As the two clones looked across the distance to each other they pulled out kunai and held them in a reverse grip and nodded to each other before disappearing into the forest.

Scene Change: Roof Over Kage Seating Box

Orochimaru and Sarutobi were staring each other down as they were surrounded by a purple box barrier.

"KuKuKu, Oh, how I've waited for this day. Soon you'll be dead sensei and the Leaf village shall burn!"

Sarutobi smirked and said "There's just one problem with that plan of yours Orochimaru."

Orochimaru cocked his head and gained a creepy smile as he said "Oh, and what's that sensei?"

Sarutobi's smirk turned evil as he said "I'm not your sensei." before being covered in smoke revealing Naruto.

"WHAT?" Orochimaru shouted out. "But if you're here, than where is he?"

Naruto smirked as he took off his coat revealing a sleeveless shirt and said "Right where he needs to be leading his people. You see Orochimaru, the Hokage decided that his time would be better spent elsewhere so he had me take his place. You should feel honored, you'll be the first person see me earn my name of the Flash Fire."

Right after Naruto finished speaking, the sound of fingers snapping sounded as Naruto shot his right arm to the side and it became coated in fire.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed dangerously before his sick smile returned and he said "You are thirty years too young to be trying to go against me you brat! Still, you should provide some entertainment I suppose. I was planning on having Kabuto summon her when he fought you but I think I prefer summoning her alongside the others."

Naruto's eyes narrowed and he said "What nonsense are you talking about you snake?"

Orochimaru's grin became even sicker as he ran through hand signs and called out "Forbidden Art: Impure World Ressurection!"

Naruto's eyebrow rose as four caskets rose from a black portal. The caskets lids then opened revealing their contents and Naruto's eyes widened before narrowing as he growled out "You bastard."


	10. Showing Team 8 The Ropes

10. Showing Team 8 The Ropes

Author's Notes: I realized I never gave Haku a rank. For right now he should be considered a high level Chunnin since he hasn't been tested for Jounin status yet.

The week following Naruto's declaration of his claiming clan heir status had gone by rather quickly for him and his partner. After Naruto had run Haku to the ground in a fight that was no holds barred on Haku's part figuring out just what the boy could do, he decided that if they were going to be teammates than he had to get the ice users speed closer to what his was.

Naruto's plan for that had two main parts to it. The first was to have him use gravity weights to increase his general speed over time. The second part was for him to become able to use his mirrors for a lot longer and modify it to cover longer distances than just the dome that the original jutsu made. Only problem was that the jutsu took up a ton of Haku's chakra reserves.

To solve that problem, Naruto had Haku use his jutsu as often as possible and also decided to teach Haku the shadow clone jutsu. While Haku could only make one clone and still be able to do anything, it would still help him increase his reserves. It also allowed Naruto to teach Haku more than one thing at a time or vice versa when it came to Haku teaching him how to use water natured chakra.

By the end of the week, both boys now had a c-rank jutsu for their secondary affinities and Haku was able to go both longer and farther in his mirrors. Now the two were testing just how fast and long Haku could travel through the mirrors by doing laps around the top of the mountain.

As they were coming up on their training site, Naruto spotted an Anbu standing next to the three logs. As Haku appeared in a mirror and jumped out he said "Anbu in the training ground. Let's see what he needs."

Haku nodded and the two shifted their course to land in front of the Anbu.

Once they landed, the Anbu spoke short and to the point. "Uzumaki-san, the Hokage wishes to speak to you and your partner."

As soon as Naruto nodded, the Anbu disappeared in a shunshine. Naruto glanced over at Haku who simply sighed before the blond disappeared with Haku vanishing as well an instant later.

Scene Change: Hokage's Office

Sarutobi looked up from the book he had been reading while his shadow clone worked on paperwork as he sensed the two boys appearing in his office. Haku shook his head as he usually did but didn't say anything since Naruto had told him that he was going to have to get used to those speeds if they were going to be partners. He was getting better at it but it still disoriented him a little.

"You wanted to see us Old Man?" Naruto asked ignoring the double at the desk with ease that came from working with clones for so long.

The original Hokage nodded and said "I did." before closing his book after putting a bookmark in and stood up from his couch to walk over to the desk where the clone handed him a scroll.

Walking back to Naruto and handing him the scroll, he said "I just assigned Team 8 their first C-rank. It's just a standard bandit raid for a village two days out but due to what happened on Team 7's mission, I've decided that whenever possible I should have someone of at least Chunnin rank to accompany rookie Gennin teams when they go on C-rank missions. I believe that the speed you two possess should be enough to prevent anything untold from happening during their raid. Team 8 will be expecting you at the gate in thirty minutes."

Naruto nodded as he opened the scroll and read through the contents briefly before rolling it back up and said "Understood, we'll be there."

Scene Change: Village Main Gate

Team 8 was leaning against the gate as they waited for the two man team that would be accompanying them.

Kiba hmphed and said "I still don't think that we don't need these guys. We don't need babysitters."

Kurenai sighed and said "I told you Kiba, after what happened to Team 7, the Hokage doesn't want to take any more chances with our less experienced Gennin."

Kiba frowned and said "So they ran into a little bit of trouble, so what? Doesn't mean that we will."

Hinata and Kurenai both frowned before Shino said "Even if that is true, it is better to be prepared in case things do go wrong. Which considering our mission, is more likely than other possible C-ranks we could have been assigned."

"I'd listen to your teammate if I were you Inuzuka. You never know when things could spiral out of control."

Team 8 glanced over to where the voice came from and saw Naruto with someone they had never seen before walking towards them. Hinata instantly saddened thinking that Naruto had found someone else besides her.

As Naruto and Haku joined them, Naruto nodded to Kurenai and said "Kurenai, it's good to be working with you again."

"Likewise Uzumaki." Kurenai said with a small smile.

She then glanced over at Haku and Naruto followed her gaze before saying "Oh, where are my manners? Allow me to introduce Haku Momochi, my partner. Haku, this is Kurenai Yuhi, the Hidden Leaf's resident Genjutsu Mistress and her team, Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame, and Kiba Inuzuka."

Shino and Hinata gave nods when introduced which Haku returned. Kiba of course decided to try and flirt with Haku in his unrefined way.

Walking over to Haku, he said "Hey there, want to get something to eat after the mission?"

Naruto shook his head and said "Inuzuka, you do realize that Haku is a boy right?"

Kiba's eyes widened as Haku chuckled. Kiba opened his mouth to say something but only sputtering came out. Hinata let out a small sigh of relief which Shino caught but didn't comment on.

Kurenai meanwhile was frowning and said "Momochi…You wouldn't be related to Zabuza Momochi would you?"

Haku shook his head and said "Not by blood. But I was his apprentice before he requested Naruto-san and Kakashi-san to take me back to the Leaf when they finished their mission in Wave. He requested that I take his last name when I joined the Leaf."

Kurenai nodded and said "I see. Well, now that introductions are over with, I believe we should be going."

Naruto and Haku nodded and Naruto said "Agreed." Turning to the Gennin, he said "Don't worry Inuzuka, you won't even notice we're there once the fighting starts unless you guys get in trouble."

Kiba glared at the perceived insult but the other two simply nodded before Kurenai took off into the trees with the others right after her.

Scene Change: Next Day En Route To Client Village

Kurenai was once again in the lead position as her team followed with Naruto and Haku on either side and a little behind the Gennin as they traveled in a standard v-formation with Kiba and Akamaru at the point and Shino and Hinata behind him.

As he landed on a branch and shot off, Naruto sent out a light chakra pulse like he usually did when traveling at slower speeds and noticed Hinata's Byakugan active again. Naruto shook his head and thought 'She's been activating that thing near constantly now. She's lucky I've been limiting how strong my pulses are or I would have blinded her the first time she did.'

Naruto waited until both he and Hinata were once again in the air and said "Something the matter Hinata?"

Hinata flinched before looking over her shoulder at the blond and said "N-no, what makes you think something's the matter?"

"Because you keep on using your Byakugan. So what's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"N-nothing, I just don't want to be caught by surprise in case we run into an ambush." Hinata said with a small blush growing on her face.

Kurenai meanwhile had a small smile while Kiba was frowning.

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "If you say so. Although I'm pretty sure that we don't have to worry about that just yet. Tell you what, turn off your Byakugan for a minute and I'll do a full scan on the area we're in."

(No, he's not completely oblivious like canon, he's just giving her a way out.)

Hinata slowly nodded and turned off her Byakugan as she looked back forward as Naruto gathered his chakra for a moment before sending it out in a visible pulse that would travel further than a normal chakra pulse.

After a minute of letting the pulse turn into a steady field and doing a thorough scan of the area, Naruto let the chakra dissipate into the air and said "All clear, nothing in a hundred yard circle except for some forest animals."

Hinata nodded without looking back and thought 'Now what do I do?'

Five minutes later, Hinata had finally gathered enough courage to say "U-Um, Naruto?"

"Hm? What is it Hinata?" Naruto asked as he focused on the girl again.

"W-well, I wanted to say thank you for the advice you gave me back at graduation. It really helped."

Naruto smiled and said "Don't mention it Hinata. And my offer from then still stands as well. You ever need any help with anything, just come to me and I'll help any way I can."

Hinata nodded as well as a small blush made its way across her face. Luckily for Hinata Naruto was behind her and didn't see it.

Scene Change: Forest Just Outside Of Client Village

The meeting with the village's mayor had gone fairly smoothly. He had told the shinobi that the bandit raids had always come from the east. Unfortunately, the bandits would sometimes kidnap some of the women so there was the possibility of there being a hostage situation which made Naruto a bit nervous.

In the past, whenever Naruto did a bandit raid, it was over nearly before it began since Naruto would use his bloodline to take all of the bandits out at once not giving them a chance to even recognize they were under attack which meant they couldn't try and play the hostage game with the blond.

But this wasn't Naruto's mission to complete, it was the Gennin of Team 8's. He, Haku, and even Kurenai were simply there to supervise and step in if things got too far out of control. And unfortunately those three were doing this sort of thing the first time.

Naruto glanced at the three who were studying tracks from the most recent bandit raid and figuring out where they needed to go. From what he could tell, they were doing a good job figuring out how many bandits there were and how many people were taken. He just hoped they would do just as well when under pressure.

Haku stepped over to his side and said "They seem to know what they are doing."

Naruto smirked and said "They're a tracking team, I would sure hope they could find traces of a bunch of bandits passing through."

Haku nodded and said "I would hope so too." Haku then noticed that Naruto's gaze was more on Hinata then the other two. "Is there something going on between you and Hinata-san?"

Naruto blinked before turning to Haku and said "What gives you that idea?"

Haku rose an eyebrow and said "You seem to get along with her better than the other two Gennin."

Naruto snorted and said "That's not very hard. She was the only one to actually treat me like a human being when I was under cover to draw out that damn traitor Mizuki. Don't get me wrong, Aburame over there never picked on me or anything but he was still indifferent."

"I see." Haku said as he glanced back towards the Gennin who began walking with Kurenai falling in behind them. As the two boys fell in as well, he said "So there is nothing between you whatsoever?

Naruto took a quick glance at his partner before looking forward and said "Not that I'm aware of. I mean I know she has a crush on me but truth be told, I don't know if I'd ever like her that way."

"Well I guess only time will tell." Haku said and Naruto nodded before Kiba said "I've got a scent that's going the same way. We should be able to follow it straight to the camp."

Kurenai nodded and said "Good, lead the way. Let's try not to walk right on top of them before we have a proper plan though."

The Gennin nodded before Kiba took point again and began running at a moderate speed with the others following.

Scene Change: One Hundred Yards From Bandit Camp

The Leaf shinobi were about one hundred yards away from the bandit camp hiding in the trees to avoid any patrols as Hinata did reconnaissance with her Byakugan.

"I see the camp. There's fifteen bandits. They've got their tents in a circle with a fire in the middle. There's a few in the tents sleeping but most are around the fire eating. There's a cage holding ten women in the biggest tent. One of the bandits is guarding them but he is currently sleeping."

Kurenai nodded and said "Any bandits patrolling?"

Hinata shook her head and Naruto raised an eyebrow and said "That's weird. Either they're sure that no one can find this camp of theirs or they're just plain stupid."

"Most likely a combination of the two." Kurenai said before turning to her students and said "Kiba and Shino, I want you two to focus on the bandits while Hinata releases the prisoners. Shino, I'm going to need you to send your insects out first to drain them as much as possible. Have them do it as discretely as they can. The longer they don't know what's happening, the better. Kiba, five minutes after they start, I want you and Akamaru to tear through them with your fang over fang attack. Make sure you get as many as possible in your first sweep. Hinata, I want you to slip into that tent and take care of the guard and slip the prisoners out the back and bring them to me before Kiba attacks. Once the prisoners are safe, I want you to go back and give Kiba and Shino any back up support they may need. If things get rough, the rest of us well give you a hand with long range support. Does everyone understand?"

The three Gennin nodded and the group began to prepare.

Time Skip Ten Minutes Later

Naruto looked on from his spot in the trees as he saw Shino's bugs moving along the ground like a black living carpet as they headed to the ring of tents. Once the insects reached the tents, they began spreading out with some slipping into the tents themselves to feed off of the sleeping bandits. The rest encircled the camp before heading inwards in small groups that gave everyone a hard time spotting them if they didn't know what to look for. Meanwhile, the bandits that were around the campfire were having a jolly good time as they ate their meals unaware of the approaching threat.

Naruto frowned. The plan was going smoothly so far but something was nagging the blond at the back of his mind. Something wasn't right, and not knowing what it was was driving the blond crazy. Reaching to the radio that was clipped to his ear, he set it from standby receive to send and receive.

Naruto took another glance into the camp before tapping his mike and said "Haku, do you copy?"

There was a short pause before Naruto heard "I copy Naruto-san. Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that something is wrong. You see anything unusual on your end?"

"Negative Naruto-san. There is nothing on my end." Haku said.

"This is Kurenai. I don't see anything unusual on my end either. Keep an eye open though. I don't want to be taken by surprise."

"Understood." Haku said.

"Roger that." Naruto said.

The three vets then watched as twin spinning drills burst out of the woods from two different directions and tore through a tent each on their way into the circle and began tearing apart the bandits who could only stand before suddenly falling over from having their chakra eaten.

The fight, if you could call it that, was over in minutes. Now none of the tents were left standing and the bandits were all sprawled out on the ground either all ready dead or bleeding out from the cuts Kiba and Akamaru had given them. Said Gennin was currently being given the "First Kill Talk" by Kurenai while Naruto and Haku finished off the survivors. Hinata and Shino meanwhile were doing their best to not look at the two vets as they sealed everything the bandits had stolen into sealing scrolls. Fortunately, Naruto had already created clones to lead the women back to their village so they were spared from having to see one of the dark sides of the shinobi world.

Five minutes later, the group was getting ready to follow Naruto's clones when the hairs on said blonde's neck rose.

Naruto frowned at the tingling sensation he was getting and said "Hinata, whatever you do, don't activate your Byakugan unless I say otherwise."

Hinata looked confused but nodded and said "A-alright Naruto." as Kurenai and Haku started looking around trying to figure out what had Naruto on edge.

Naruto began pulsing his chakra out before turning to the trees behind him and said "Alright, come on out. I already know you're there."

Someone chuckled before the Leaf Nin heard a voice say "Heh, good job. Most people don't sense me until I'm right on top of them, if ever."

They then saw a man who was about six foot two with spiky red hair that reached just past his shoulders and blue eyes that were just a shade darker than Naruto's walk out of the trees. He wore a shinobi's typical clothing and had a Katana strapped to his back with the hilt over his left shoulder. Tied to his forehead was a shinobi headband with a spiral symbol on it.

"Well, well. When I heard that the village nearby was having bandit troubles, I decided to help them out. Imagine my surprise when I find Leaf Shinobi already taking care of the problem. This must be my lucky day since I've finally found someone from the Leaf who could possibly give me a challenge. I don't usually bother asking my enemies this since their usually dead before they can make me break a sweat, but since you were able to sense me, I think I'd like to know my opponent's name." The man said as he pulled his sword out of his scabbard.

Naruto frowned and said "It is customary to give your own name first when asking another for theirs, but my name is Naruto Uzumaki. Mind telling me why you believe we are enemies?"

The man's eyes widened when he heard Naruto's last name and he said "Uzumaki? But you're just a kid. Still that means there must have been other survivors."

The man then narrowed his eyes and said "Oh where are my manners? You want to know my name? My name is Kuroda Uzumaki, Elite Jounin of the Hidden Whirlpool village. You know, it's kind of ironic. I had been looking for survivors for so long, but when I finally find someone whose parents were survivors, they end up under the banner of the enemy."

Naruto's eyes widened as well and he said "You're an Uzumaki as well? But I thought everyone but my mother was killed when the Hidden Stone attacked them in the last war. Wait a minute, what do you mean under the banner of the enemy? The Hidden Leaf and Whirlpool villages were allies!"

Kuroda scowled and said "Allies? Ha! Don't make me laugh! The Hidden Leaf wasn't our ally, it betrayed us! When we were attacked by the Stone, they only sent two Gennin teams, TWO! How the hell could two teams comprised mainly of GENNIN of all things make a difference? They couldn't, we were obviously not worth the Leaf sending any real help."

"They were the only ones close enough to reach you in time!" Naruto shouted at the man while everyone else was doing their best to figure out what was happening.

"Man, what's going on between these two? I mean aren't they related?" Kiba asked while the others simply shook their heads showing their own confusion.

"Oh, and how would you know that? You weren't there! You weren't even born yet!" Kuroda shouted right back at the blond.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and said "Because I've read the reports of not only my father but also my mother's. And they clearly said that the Leaf was sending backup but it didn't reach the village in time. The Hidden Leaf Village sent three platoons to the Whirlpool once they received the message for help. Three platoons that could have been used elsewhere at the time. My mother had joined them since she wanted to help defend her homeland. But when they got there, all that was left were ruins. The two Leaf teams that had been sent were severely injured and were found hiding in an abandoned dock warehouse with about twenty survivors who were even more injured. The medics that the platoons had with them did all they could but none of the survivors made it during the journey back to the Leaf. We did everything we could."

"Yeah, well it obviously wasn't good enough was it?" Kuroda growled out before saying "I should have known someone born in that village would side with it. But I can not believe that Kushina would side with them over her homeland."

Seeing Naruto's eyes widen again, Kuroda chuckled and said "Yeah, I know who your parents were. Not very hard seeing as how Kushina was the only Uzumaki in the Leaf village at the time. And you look more like that Namikaze fellow that had been at the village at the time than an Uzumaki. What was his name again? Oh yeah, Minato. Minato Namikaze."

Kurenai's eyes widened when she heard that but a quick glance from Naruto kept her from saying anything.

Focusing back on Kuroda again he said "My mother chose to stay in the Leaf because we were allies. We were still at war with the Hidden Stone and Cloud villages."

"Which you conveniently won just two months after our destruction! I find it odd that your father was able to complete his jutsu just after Whirlpool was destroyed!" Kuroda shouted out.

Naruto's eyes hardened as he said "Are you saying that the Leaf wanted the Whirlpool to be destroyed?"

"Well it sure looks that way from where I'm standing." Kuroda growled out before his hair began fluttering around like it was caught in a breeze of wind and everyone began feeling the sensation of being in the middle of an ocean during a storm.

As everyone besides Naruto started lightly shivering at the Uzumaki's presence, Kuroda said in a dangerous tone "But it seems that talking will get us nowhere. You have decided to stand by the Leaf and so you are just as much my enemy as any other ninja from the Leaf or Stone."

Naruto frowned before he began matching his distant relative's presence with his own and then swallowed it in his own making everyone's eyes widen as they suddenly felt like the ocean they were in was suddenly in the middle of a massive maelstrom five times worse than before with fifty foot waves crashing down around them. Naruto's hair began swaying all over the place like he was caught in a cyclone as the two Uzumakis began glaring at each other waiting for the other to make the first move.

"W-what's this sensation?" Hinata asked as she began to shiver uncontrollably.

Kurenai opened her mouth to answer but Haku beat her to it.

"Everyone has a presence that is hidden deep down in you that defines you. There are those who can bring that presence out in order to intimidate their foes better than any kind of killing intent. Zabuza-sama was one of those able to do it. It had felt like you were being stalked by some unknown predator, but it was nowhere near this level. By the looks of things their presences are strong enough to even physically manifest themselves a little."

Before Haku could say anything else, Naruto disappeared just as a shell of what the others could only assume was chakra that was multicolored appeared before Kuroda's sword arm moved at impossible speeds to his side and met the kunai that Naruto was holding in a clang.

Naruto's eyes momentarily widened before he just barely blocked Kuroda's free arm as he tried to backhand the blond. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he disappeared and reappeared in front of the other Leaf Shinobi.

Looking at the chakra shell around his opponent, he said "So that's why my mother was always able to keep up with my father whenever they fought in spars. She must have used the Uzumaki chakra to control her body movements and make them faster."

Kuroda grinned and said "That's right."

Naruto frowned and said "The only downside is that it takes extreme amounts of focus to have that chakra manipulate your movements in the right way without harming yourself. Which is why not many Uzumakis could use it in battle since it's so hard to make your feet move properly without using your muscles."

Kuroda's grin turned predatory as he said "Looks like you did your homework about our history boy. Although it seems that what you are doing is more like what that father of yours did. Makes things interesting when your opponent can move around as fast as you."

Naruto smirked and said "Oh no, what I'm doing is five times better than what dad did."

Right after he said that, a blue shell of chakra surrounded Naruto before five clones appeared around him and the six blonds disappeared.

Kuroda's arm once again moved faster than the others could see and five smoke clouds appeared before Naruto reappeared up against a tree that he was thrown against with a chain made out of the multicolored chakra wrapped around his arm and leading back to Kuroda's free arm.

"Naruto!" Hinata shouted out and was about to rush towards the two Uzumakis before Kurenai grabbed her and said "No, don't! You'll only get in the way."

Hinata struggled before Haku said in a calm voice "She's right Hinata-san. This kind of fight requires speed that you do not have."

Right as he said that, mirrors made out of ice began appearing all over the area surrounding the two fighters in a large dome that appeared to be completely solid with no gaps. Immediately after they appeared, the temperature inside the dome and around it instantly began dropping to the point where everyone could see their breath. The rest of the Leaf Shinobi outside along with Kuroda stared in surprise as Haku walked into the back of the mirror in front of him before suddenly reappearing in another mirror right by Naruto who was shaking his head as he stood up and broke the chains around his arm with a burst of his own chakra.

"Are you alright Naruto-san?" Haku asked as he stepped out of the mirror.

"Yeah, he just caught me off guard with those chains of his. I was under the impression that it was something only my mother could do among the Uzumakis of her time."

Kuroda smirked from his spot where he hadn't moved from at all and said "You would have been right about that five years ago, but I figured out how to do it as well, although it wasn't easy. Your mother was truly a genius when it came to using our bloodline."

"Good to know." Haku said before he stepped back into his mirror and his image appeared in all of the others as well.

Kuroda rose an eyebrow as he looked around and said "Well that's new."

The images all rose their throwing arms over their chest revealing braces of senbon needle and said "You seem able to handle multiple opponents quite well, but I wonder if you will be able to handle this as easily."

As soon as Haku finished speaking, the dome was filled with senbon needles heading towards the redhead. But to both boys' amazement, Kuroda's chakra shell seemed to expand a little as the redhead moved at speeds that turned his body into one big blur even to Naruto's eyes.

Once the barrage of needles was over, Naruto and Haku's eyes widened as they saw Kuroda standing with a grin holding a bunch of senbon needles in his hands with the rest being held in the air in groups by chakra strings that were connected to various points on his body.

"Well now, that was interesting. If I was anyone else, I would have been a pincushion for sure. But it seems like a waste to use all those needles and not be able to use them again. Why don't I return them to you?"

Naruto's eyes widened as all the needles pointed themselves at him before launching themselves towards him at speeds that would give even him trouble to avoid even if he had anywhere to move. Just as the first needles reached him, Haku's hand shot out of the nearest mirror and pulled him through it. As the two boys appeared on the opposite side of the mirror they heard the needles impacting the inside of the dome.

Naruto sighed as he pulled out a needle from his arm that had managed to get him before Haku pulled him through the mirror and said "Lets not do that again."

Haku nodded before they heard "Hidden Sword Art: Sword Blitz Jutsu!"

The dome began shuddering as the Kenjutsu user began bombarding the inside with numerous blades of chakra. Ten seconds later the blasts died down and Haku frowned as he concentrated on repairing the damage the attack had done to the mirrors. Naruto frowned as well as Kuroda shouted out to them.

"So you put chakra into the mirrors to keep them in existence and repair them. Very clever, but it must be a real drain on your reserves. I can simply wait until you run dry and then finish you off."

Naruto glanced over at Haku and said "How long can you keep those up?"

Haku glanced at the mirrors before turning back to Naruto and said "With that many about another ten minutes. Less if he attacks them again. After that I'll be pretty much useless."

Naruto nodded before looking at the mirror and cocked his head in thought. After a minute, his eyes lit up and he said "You can manipulate those mirrors so that you can use the water in them for jutsu right?"

"Yes, but if I take any of the water out they well be weaker against his attacks and require more chakra to repair." Haku said wondering where his partner was going with this.

"What if we surrounded him in water and froze him in it?"

Haku shook his head and said "It could be done but it would take too long to freeze him. By the time he was surrounded he could simply blast the water away with his chakra before I could lower the temperature enough to fully encase him."

Naruto frowned before his eyes lit up again and said "What if I added my wind natured chakra into the mix. Would that speed things up? Or could we at least make the dome so cold that it freezes him to death?"

Haku's eyes narrowed in thought before he nodded and said "That could work. We would only get one chance at this though."

Naruto nodded and put his hand on the closest mirror and said "Then we better make this count."

Haku nodded again and placed his hand next to Naruto's. The two then closed their eyes in concentration as they began pumping elemental chakra into the dome. As Naruto pushed more wind natured chakra into the dome, the temperature of the dome itself began dropping dangerously low. The boys only had the chakra running through their arms moving the cold air away from them to keep them safe from frost bite.

On the other side of the dome, Team 8 was shivering as the temperature near the dome kept dropping.

"Man, it's freezing out here! What the hell are they doing in there?" Kiba asked as Akamaru jumped into his coat to stay warm.

"T-they're not in the d-dome." Hinata said stuttering more from the cold than from insecurities and lifted the hood on her coat as she saw what was happening with her Byakugan. "N-Naruto and Haku are on the other s-side of the dome and are pushing some kind of chakra into it. It's m-making the temperature around us drop. I can already see frost completely covering the ground inside."

"It's not just inside. There's some on the ground around the outside as well." Shino said as he pointed at the ring of frost that was steadily growing towards the Leaf Shinobi.

"Everyone back up. I don't know what those two are planning but I don't want us caught in it." Kurenai said.

The three Gennin all nodded and all four began backing away from the dome.

On the inside, Kuroda was trying to use his chakra to insulate his body but was still shivering as well. The entire ground around him was covered in frost and the dome was nearly completely filled with a freezing mist.

As the mist continued to fill the dome, Kuroda raised his sword into position and swung it while calling out "Hidden Sword Art: Sword Blitz Jutsu!"

The blades of chakra launched themselves from his sword and slammed into the dome. But to his surprise, the dome repaired itself even faster than before. He then heard his distant relative's voice drift in from outside of the dome.

"That's not going to work Kuroda! It's not just Haku's chakra keeping those mirrors together anymore. Tell you what, if you promise to leave the Land Of Fire and not attack anymore Leaf Shinobi, we'll let you out!"

On the outside, Haku looked at Naruto in surprise and said "I know he is your relative Naruto-san, but is that wise?"

Naruto glanced over at him and said "He's family Haku. I have to try."

Kuroda frowned before shouting out "You actually expect me to allow the Leaf to go unpunished for what they have done? You are either naive or a fool!"

Naruto sighed before saying "All right, I gave you a chance but if that's how you want it then I guess we have no choice!"

Right after Naruto stopped speaking, the mist began closing in on Kuroda and began freezing on his body. As Kuroda began to try and break the ice off, the mirrors began rippling before water shot out and hit him from all angles freezing over as soon as the water made contact with his body while the mirrors began shrinking.

As the mirrors completely disappeared, everyone was able to see Kuroda again who was standing in the middle of a gem shaped pillar of ice.

Hinata gasped as Kiba said "Holy." under his breath, unable to even finish his sentence as he stared at what had happened to the redhead.

Naruto slowly walked towards the ice formation and stared into his relative's eyes before placing his hand on the ice.

As Naruto gathered wind chakra into his hand, he said "I'm sorry."

The ice and figure in it was instantly turned into powder as Naruto's wind natured chakra tore through it leaving no evidence that a human had ever been in that spot. Not even Kuroda's sword or headband survived.

Hinata gasped again before all three Gennin turned their heads from the sight of the powder falling to the ground with their eyes closed. Kurenai turned her eyes away as Naruto closed his own in sadness.

Haku stepped over to the blond and put his hand on his partner's shoulder and asked "Are you going to be alright?"

Naruto nodded before saying "Lets head back to the village."

Haku nodded and the two jumped into the trees with Team 8 following.

That night, the Leaf Shinobi were sitting around a fire as Team 8 and Haku were eating their dinner while Naruto was staring into the fire with his plate of food remaining untouched.

As Hinata glanced over at the blond, Haku gave her a light nudge. When Hinata turned to the ice user, he gestured over to Naruto and said "Why don't we go talk to him Hinata-san."

"B-but I don't know what to say." Hinata said..

Haku gave a gentle smile and said "So don't say anything. Just show that you're there for him."

Before Hinata could say anything to that, Haku stood up and began walking around the fire. Hinata quickly stood up and followed as Haku sat down on one side and Hinata took Naruto's other side with a small blush.

Kurenai gave a small smile while Kiba frowned. He was about to stand as well when Shino put his hand onto his shoulder. Kiba shot him a look but Shino simply shook his head causing the canine like boy to simply humph and go back to his meal.

"Are you alright Naruto-san?" Haku asked as he settled himself.

Naruto took in a deep breath before exhaling in a sigh and said "Tell me Haku, were you alright after you killed your father when he killed your mother and then tried to do the same to you after he discovered your bloodline?"

Hinata's and the rest of Team 8's eyes widened when they heard this while Haku was silent for a moment.

"Not at first." Haku admitted before continuing. "But eventually the pain lessened with time. And when I met Zabuza-sama it lessened to the point that I could put it behind me. You are lucky Naruto-san, you already have others who care for you that can help you through this."

"Yeah." Naruto said as he continued to study the flickering flames of the fire. "I just wish he didn't have to die like that. I've lived my entire life without my family. And then the hour that I finally met someone that I shared a blood relation with I had to kill him for the sake of the village."

"The world of the shinobi can be a cruel place. But if you have your friends around you, you can survive it." Haku said.

Naruto nodded and said "Yeah. Thanks Haku, you too Hinata, for being here." Haku smiled while Hinata simply nodded.

Scene Change: Hokage's Office

Kurenai, Naruto, and Haku were standing in front of the Hokage as the two Jounin finished giving their reports.

After they were finished, Sarutobi leaned forward and said "So there was an Uzumaki survivor in the area. I must admit I had thought your mother was the only survivor Naruto. It is unfortunate that this Kuroda figure felt the way he did about the Leaf. We could have used his skills as well as his help in rebuilding your clan. How are you handling it?"

Naruto looked down for a moment before saying "As well as can be expected sir. Having Haku around helped."

Sarutobi nodded and said "That's good to hear. Very well, if there's nothing else, then you're dismissed."

Naruto and Haku nodded but as they were turning to leave the office Kurenai said "Actually sir, there is something I need to ask you. When Naruto and Kuroda were talking, he said he knew who Naruto's parents were. He gave the name of Naruto's father and I was wondering if you could confirm it."

Naruto and Sarutobi frowned as Sarutobi looked at Naruto silently asking and Naruto nodded his head causing Sarutobi to sigh and begin massaging his forehead.

Looking back to Kurenai, he nodded and said "I'm afraid he was telling the truth."

Kurenai's eyes widened and she looked over to Naruto and said "Then that means that Naruto is-"

"Kurenai!" Sarutobi said in a sharp tone stopping the junior Jounin short as Sarutobi continued "The information about Naruto's full heritage is classified at the highest level."

Haku stepped forward and said "I'm sorry sir, but why would information about who Naruto's father was be classified so heavily."

"Because Naruto's father made a lot of enemies before he died. More so than his mother and anyone else who fought in the last war combined. If they were to receive word that he had a child that was alive than they would stop at nothing to see Naruto dead. It could even start the fourth shinobi war."

Haku's eyes widened as she glanced at Naruto who shrugged and said "You've seen how effective my bloodline is against multiple opponents. My dad took full advantage of that as soon as he figured out a way to get over the tunnel vision that occurs when we use it. Although we don't think the Stone or Cloud would try anything if they did find out about me due to the fear of what I could do on the battlefield, we still don't want to take that chance."

Sarutobi nodded before turning to Kurenai again and said "Have your Gennin made the connection?"

Kurenai shook her head and said "Not that I'm aware of. Should I go ahead and tell them?"

Sarutobi shook his head and said "No, there is no need for that. I will inform their parents to make sure they don't talk about it openly. Fortunately Hiashi was one of his teammates so he has always known and Tsume has known that they were at least related since their scents were so similar. I am sure that Shibi is aware of Naruto's heritage as well. They should be able to run damage control if their children come to them about this. I don't think I have to tell you how important it is that this information does not get out."

Kurenai nodded and Sarutobi dismissed them.

As Haku and Naruto exited the office, Haku turned to the blond and said "You are certainly full of surprises Naruto-san."

Naruto smirked and said "Haku, you have no idea."

And Cut! Man that, has to be my longest chapter yet. I'm going to be working on sensors next and then clones but after that are the Chunnin Exams.


	11. Chunin Exams AATIROACFW

11. Chunin Exams: An Aide To International Relations Or A Chance For War?

1 Akunta- Made up word that basically means that the person it is describing has no respect from the person who said it.

Note: it has been roughly two and a half months since Team 8's bandit raid mission.

Story Start: Hidden Stone Village: Two Weeks Before Bi-Annual Chunin Exams

Onoki of the twin scales looked up from the report he just finished reading and said "Is this report accurate?"

His granddaughter nodded and said "I just came back with my team from the town Lord Tsuchikage. It's accurate. There is a child of an Uzumaki survivor serving as a Jounin for the Leaf village. And as you can see, he looks like the Yondaime Hokage. Not only that, rumor around the village we were in says that he's able to disappear in one spot and reappear in another instantly."Onoki frowned in thought before he looked back down at the report and said "This could be very bad if the wrong people find out about it. We may even go to war if this Uzumaki is in fact a descendant of Namikaze. And it would be one hell of a scandal if this turns out to be some Yamanaka that was banished from his clan."

Kurotsuchi frowned as she considered everything her grandfather said and the consequences they could bring. Looking her grandfather in the eye, she said "Sir, permission to lead a Genin team to the Leaf village and conduct a fact finding mission under the cover of my team taking the exams."

Onoki studied his granddaughter for a minute before he looked back down at the report which showed a whiskered blond holding a kunai in a reverse grip with the kunai inside some rough looking guy while another boy used a senbon needle to block the sword of another bandit.

"What do we have on this other boy?" Onoki asked, changing the topic.

Kurotsuchi shrugged and said "Not much. We know that he is capable of using Ice style jutsu with an ease that suggests that he has a bloodline. We also know that he became Uzumaki's partner after he found him in the Land of Waves. I'm afraid that's it though."

Onoki frowned again before he sighed and said "This will require more than one team to be sent." Looking up, he said "I'm sending three teams. You are to be in overall charge of all three. Find out everything you possibly can about this Uzumaki kid. Secondary importance is his partner. I don't believe I have to tell you to take note of everything you can while you're in the village. I'll send you the team files tonight for you to choose which teams will be going."

Kurotsuchi nodded and bowed before she walked out and closed the door behind her.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village: Hokage's Office: One Week And Three Days Until Chunin Exams

"You needed to see us sir?"

Sarutobi looked up from the scroll he was reading at the sound of Haku's voice and gave a tired smile at the Jounin/Chunin team that was suddenly in front of him and said "Yes Haku I did. I'm afraid that I have some bad news. Fortunately, I also have some unexpected good news for you as well Naruto. Please you two, have a seat."

The two boys took a seat as Sarutobi pulled a file towards him and opened it as he said "Four days ago, one of Jiraiya's multiple village information gathering agency (MVIGA) contacts sent us a message that he had given some Intel to Stone nin that we should really know about."

Haku frowned and said "Excuse me Lord Hokage, for interrupting, but what is a multiple village information gathering agency?"

"Well, to put it simply, it's a loose group of people who gather information about all of the villages and sells that information to whoever pays for their services."

Haku frowned and said "Why would a village allow something like that, never mind pay for it?"

"Because these people usually have the best intelligence and they act as an equalizer. If one village has a piece of extremely important information that was sold to them by these people, you can always assume that the village it concerns well know about it sooner rather than later. The group prevents wars from breaking out by mainly telling their clients about coup attempts and alliances that are made. Now, as I was saying, one of the agents sold information to Stone that I think you two should know about. Primarily you Naruto. Take a look at this picture and tell me if you recognize it." Sarutobi picked up a picture from the file and tossed it like a shuriken to Naruto who caught it and looked at it while Haku leaned over and looked as well.

The picture showed Naruto with a kunai in a reverse grip stabbed into the chest of a guy who could pass for a bouncer while Haku was behind him with his back to the blond as he held back a sword with one of his senbon needles. Naruto frowned as he said "This looks like it was taken during that mission we had last month to clear out that mafia group."

Flashback: One Month Ago: Border Village Between Land Of Fire And Land Of Vegetables

Their mission was simple. A mafia gang had set up shop in the town and had been 'receiving international taxes' from anyone who was using the village to make the crossing over from one country to another. They were to go in, find the base, take all the gang members out of commission, and leave their unconscious bodies in the hands of the joint police force for some well deserved one on one interrogation on other criminal groups in the area.

There was just one slight hitch in the plan. The day Naruto and Haku had reached the village, the whole mafia gang had for some reason decided to have some fun at the police station and a massive fight currently made walking around in that area of the village a hazard to a normal person's health.

When they reached the police station, Naruto and Haku took five seconds to figure out what was going on and to run a quick IFF. After that, the fight turned into true organized chaos as Naruto slipped into the slipstream and began knocking people out by putting burns over the parts of the body that were the most sensitive to pain or just chopping the back of their necks while Haku made a bunch of ice senbon needles and began putting everyone in range in deathlike states as he began wading his way towards the police officers.

The fight was pretty much over the minute the two Leaf shinobi showed up. But as Haku blocked an overhead slash from a sword wielding thug with a senbon needle, Naruto saw one of his victims regain consciousness and narrow his eyes at Haku before he sprung up to his feet with a switchblade flicking open. Naruto's own eyes narrowed before he disappeared and reappeared with a kunai already in the man's chest.

"Should of stayed down." Naruto growled out as the man gurgled and fell to the floor. Naruto took his kunai out and called one of the policemen over. As the man rushed over to him and his victim, he said "If you get him some first aid as soon as possible, he'll survive."

The officer nodded and called over one of the rapid response officers who quickly got to work on the thug. Naruto turned around and looked back to where Haku had been and saw his opponent currently on the ground whimpering while he held one of his more fragile body parts while Haku stood over him. Naruto shook his head and thought 'I keep forgetting how harsh Haku can be when he's not forced to kill someone.'

Haku sensed Naruto's gaze and turned around and gave a smile at Naruto causing the Jounin to sweat drop at how sweet the smile looked.

End Flashback

"Unfortunately, the agency took that picture and sold a copy of it and information that was fortunately just rumor to Stone. The agent who gave us that picture says that they didn't tell them about who they thought your parents were since they knew that would definitely start a war. Still, it's not hard to guess that Stone will work it out. In fact, we believe that at least someone already has. I've just received a message from the Tsuchikage. For the first time since the Chunin exams first came into existence, Stone is sending teams to the Hidden Leaf Village for the exams. Three of them in fact."

Naruto frowned and said "Isn't there some treaty or something that prevents them from coming?"

Sarutobi shook his head and said "There was never actually anything legal preventing enemy villages from coming to one another's exams. It was just simply one of those things that villages don't do because of the relationship they have with each other. Stone is simply taking advantage of that fact in an effort to get information. Most likely so that they can either confirm or dismiss their theory on who Naruto's father is."

Naruto's frown grew as he said "In that case, me and Haku should probably take a long term mission and stay out of the village until the exams are over. Sorry Old Man, but it looks like you'll have to find someone else to proctor the third exam."

"Actually Naruto, I still want you to proctor the exam. If we try to hide you and Haku until the exams are over, that just shows Stone how much we want to keep you out of their sights and they would be all that more determined to find out the truth. No, as much as I don't want to, we have to act like we don't know why Stone is suddenly sending teams to the exams."

Naruto sighed before he looked up and said "You said you had some good news Old Man?"

Sarutobi nodded as he allowed a smile to form on his face and pressed the button on his intercom. Leaning in slightly towards it, he said "Mrs. Reinas, could you please send our guests back in?"

His secretary's voice came through the speaker in its gentle tone. "At once Lord Hokage. Fair warning sir, one of them has been getting restless out here."

"Thank you." Sarutobi said before a moment later the door to his office opened and the two boys in front of him turned around in their seats to see the new arrivals. As soon as they did, Naruto stiffened in shock.

There were four of them, obviously a Genin team and their Jounin sensei. Two girls, one boy, and their female teacher. Each of them had some kind of bladed weapon on them even if a couple of them seemed strange to the two boys. They would seem like an average team, if you eliminated the fact that three out of four of them had red hair and blue eyes. The other member had blond hair that was surprisingly almost the exact same shade of Naruto's hair and had storm grey eyes. But what really caught Naruto's attention were the headbands. They had a swirl on them that looked like a whirlpool.

"No way." Naruto whispered before he whipped around and gave his village leader a look that begged for this not to be a prank. Sarutobi smiled at him and shook his head. Naruto's face instantly relaxed into a look of relief before they heard a voice behind him.

"Finally, why did we have to wait outside so long you old geezer? And who the hell are these two? Ow!"

Naruto turned back around and saw the boy clutching his head while the blond held a fist over his head showing that she was the one to 'discipline' her teammate. The other females on the team were chuckling at the boy's misfortune.

"Rico! Show the village leader the proper respect!"

"Ow, Rachel, what the hell?" The boy, now identified as Rico asked the blond haired girl.

'Rachel? That's an odd name.' Haku and Naruto thought almost simultaneously.

"It's your own fault you know. If you just talked to everyone with the respect they deserve, you wouldn't be constantly having a headache all the time."

Rico turned to his red haired teammate and said "Shut it Reina! Just because you're older than me by six minutes doesn't mean you can criticize me all the time!"

Reina's cheeks puffed out and she looked like she was just about ready to really rip into her younger brother when the oldest redhead cut in.

"Alright you two, no more fighting in front of the Hokage. You can continue this once we're back at our hotel." She got a muttered "Yes Tsunami-sensei" before she turned back to the Hokage and said "My apologies Lord Hokage. If I may ask, who are these young men?"

Sarutobi chuckled as he waved the apology away and said "Apology accepted Tsunami. As for these two splendid shinobi of mine, allow me to introduce to you Naruto Uzumaki, clan heir of the Uzumaki clan for any who reside in this village, and his partner, Haku Momochi."

All four Whirlpool nins' eyes widened before Rico pointed at Naruto and said "No way this guy's our clan heir! I mean look at him, he doesn't even have our red hair! How can he even be an Uzumaki?"

Tsunami looked about ready to scold her student again but never got the chance as Naruto released the full scope of his intent. Naruto's hair began flying all over the place with his clothes flapping around like they were in Category 5 Hurricane force winds. Everyone in the room shuddered as they felt like they were in that storm with waves over seventy five feet tall surrounding them. And then Naruto took it one step further.

After his battle against Kuroda, Naruto realized that he needed to learn how to control the different chakras inside of him. He started with the one that came from his mother since doing anything with demonic chakra without knowing just what you're doing can be hazardous to your health. As Naruto's hair and clothes flapped around, he showed just what all the hours of working with his clones on the chakra were for.

Naruto's special chakra erupted out of his body forming a bonfire of multicolored light before part of it rose higher than the others and shifted into the form of a fox with nine tails. Everyone was shaking from the feeling that Naruto was giving off with only Sarutobi seeming to be unaffected. Then the fox roared at Rico and the boy suddenly found himself on his knees with no recollection of falling.

Then, as soon as it came, everything just vanished and Naruto's clothes stopped flapping and his hair fell back into place. Everyone but Sarutobi finally took a much needed breath. As they did so, Naruto found the Whirlpool nins' reactions to his little display were quite interesting. Rachel seemed to be stunned by the display of power while Rico seemed to be terrified of him now. Reina was looking at him with awed respect while Tsunami seemed to be somehow proud of him.

Naruto was confused by this until Tsunami said with a light tone in her voice "Well now, it's been a while since I've seen someone able to manifest the Uzumaki presence so well. In fact, the last one was Master Umi. Rico, I hope that shows you that he is in fact an Uzumaki, because I don't think that anything else says it louder than that."

Rico gave a slow nod as he continued to stare at Naruto with wide eyes. Tsunami then continued with the light tone still in her voice "Now then, Naruto. I'm sure you have some questions about where me and my team have been since from what little I've gathered with my brief talk with your leader Whirlpool village is no longer around and there weren't many survivors. However, let me explain about just what happened first before I answer any questions."

Naruto nodded and Tsunami seemed to gather herself as she remembered events decades past.

"We knew for a while that the Hidden Stone village would someday make a direct attack against our village. Since we were not arrogant enough to assume that we could repel whatever army they sent our way without massive damage done to our village, we decided to evacuate a large number of our civilians with fifty teams to protect them. But instead of sending them to the Leaf village where they could have been intercepted, we loaded them onto ships and headed east, where we knew that there was at least one other continent. After two months at sea, we reached the next continent. A team of shinobi was supposed to come after us once the war was over. We ended up spending the next several years there, mixing in with the populations there. Said populations are actually much more technologically advanced than us although none of them knew how to use their chakra before we came. We began taking jobs there while at the same time teaching parts of the populations how to use their chakra. One of these people was Rachel here."

Said blond gave a small wave as Tsunami continued "After ten years went by, we had to admit that Whirlpool was almost certainly destroyed and that the Leaf village had lost the war. But then, seven years ago, another Uzumaki came across the sea and found one of our 'mini villages' that we had set up in the coastal town of Bangal. His name was Kiba, and he told us that the Leaf had won the war two months after our village destruction and that he had been looking for survivors ever since. He had eventually returned to where Whirlpool village used to be and found the scroll that contained the orders to send a team out to us. And so, he came for us."

Tsunami's eyes closed briefly before she said "But by that time, many of us didn't want to go back. We were comfortable in a place where they had technology unlike anything we had here, why should they have to go back? Still, a number of the older generations wanted to return. Whirlpool was our home, and it was our duty to return to that home, even if it was just to help let old ghosts finally rest in peace. Kiba wanted to stay since he had finally found the rest of his people. Me and my team volunteered to be the ones to head back to this continent and do a reconnaissance of the village to determine if it should be rebuilt as it was or a completely new one should be made since I have a contract for the Sea Kings that would help make communication faster. Our ship landed at port in the Land of Fire so we came here first hoping to hire a team to help us. But when we got here, your leader said that there was a child of a survivor that he wanted us to meet. And the rest you know."

Naruto stared as the shock of what Tsunami said began to pierce his brain. There were even more survivors of the Whirlpool village. Survivors numbering hundreds, possibly even a thousand more than the most hopeful estimate that any village previously had.

"I'm not the only one who can walk in the sunlight.' It was an amazing thought. That there were others who were living comfortable lives and weren't obsessed with revenge like Kuroda had been.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Sarutobi who coughed to gain all of their attention. Once he had it, he said "Naruto, there is one other thing that Tsunami has forgotten to mention. Since the Chunin exams are so close, she wants to enter her team in it so that they can test themselves against the ninja on this continent. That means that they'll be here for at least another month."

Naruto frowned and said "Hm, that could be a problem. I'm pretty sure that Haku took the only apartment that was empty that Mr. Adregas owned. And I am not going to let them suffer by staying in a hotel for a whole month."

"H-hey! How come where we stay is decided by this akunta?"1 Rico asked pointing his finger at Naruto who looked back over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. Rachel bashed him on his skull again and said "Show your clan heir proper respect Rico-baka!"

Reina chuckled again at her brother. But before Rico could launch another argument with his sister, Sarutobi coughed drawing everyone's attention again as he said "Since Naruto is technically your clan leader while you're in the village, it falls up to him where you stay. On that note, Naruto, you could move into your parents' house. That should give you plenty of room. Or, if you so desire, you could theoretically take over the Senju clan compound since your great grandaunt was married to the First. There's also the fact that Tsunade has made it quite clear that she doesn't want to return to the village making it even easier."

Naruto cocked his head to the side in thought before he shook his head and said "I think I'll stick with mom and dad's house. Too much trouble with the civilian council if we moved into the Senju compound."

Sarutobi nodded and got up gesturing for Naruto to follow him over to where the picture of his father was. When the old man took the picture down, Naruto saw the seal that he now recognized as a blood recognition seal. He had used them often on scrolls that contained things that not everyone should have access to when he did missions between the village and the capital. Knowing what to do from when Sarutobi had taken a small amount of his blood seven years ago, Naruto bit into his thumb until it began to bleed. Pressing his now bleeding thumb on the wall, Naruto flashed it down the seal and watched as it glowed before glowing blue lines formed along the wall blocking in the seal before the section sunk into the wall and dropped down revealing a small safe.

Inside the safe was a small scroll that was labeled "Hirashin: the real reason it works. Do not give to Naruto until he is sixteen or unlocks his bloodline." Naruto ignored the scroll since he had already read it before and reached behind it where he saw a small key. Naruto took out the key and noticed a stylized whirlpool on the side of the key that he could see. Out of curiosity, he flipped the key over and saw on the other side a symbol that looked like a swirling wind blowing what he assumed to be small leaves around.

As Naruto looked down at the key with a hundred thoughts running through his head, he was brought out of his thoughts by Sarutobi who said "Don't worry about the council Naruto. With a blood seal on the gate, there's no way they can claim that the house doesn't belong to you. Now, why don't you go check out your new house."

Naruto nodded before he and Haku disappeared.

"What the?" Rachel asked with wide eyes before she and Tsunami disappeared as well.

"What the hell?" Rico was able to get out one word more than his teammate who he had unconsciously spoken with at the same time before he and Reina also disappeared.

Scene Change: Namikaze Household

Naruto and Haku reappeared next to a three story house that was surrounded by a seven foot iron wrought fence. The house was roughly five miles north by northeast of the Kage tower and was surrounded by a thin, but thick ring of small trees that ensured privacy. Knowing that both of his parents were far ahead of others when it came to seals, Naruto was willing to bet that each and everyone of those trees had some kind of seal that would alert the owner of the house if there was someone in them, if not a seal that would make the intruder very sorry indeed to be in one.

Naruto shot a quick look at the house that really seemed normal besides it's size before he disappeared and reappeared with Tsunami and Rachel. He disappeared again and reappeared a third time with Rico and Reina.

The rest of Rachel's 'quiet' shout had been rudely cut off as she and the others tried to get over the sensation of their surroundings suddenly changing with no warning what so ever. As the four shook their heads, Haku said "Don't worry, you'll get used to it eventually."

Rico didn't seem to be listening as he took one look around and brought his hand up into the release sign and shouted "Release!"

When nothing happened besides Rico's chakra flaring, Naruto smirked and said "You finished yet?" Rico scowled at the blond who paid absolutely no attention to that fact as he walked up to the gate which had the same two symbols as the key did. The wind design was on the left gate while the right held the whirlpool design. The middle of the gate had a lock with a slot where the key was obviously supposed to go and another blood recognition seal surrounding it.

Naruto rebit his thumb and swiped the once again bleeding appendage across the seal which glowed blue before disappearing. Naruto then inserted the key and turned it unlocking the gate. Pushing the now unlocked gate open, Naruto walked in quickly and closed the gate behind the others after they had followed him. Turning back around, Naruto retook his position in front of the group and headed towards the house.

Besides the massive training area under the house that had seals to change the environment into anything Naruto or the others wanted, the house was fairly normal. The second and third floors were full of bedrooms with two bathrooms on each floor leading Naruto to believe that this was supposed to be for a growing clan or even for any Uzumaki survivors while the first floor had two bathrooms as well a large dining room, a good sized family room, and an impressive kitchen.

They'd have to get a new refrigerator though. All of the food inside had been left to rot, leaving one big blob of what looked like toxic sludge that smelled like something had been locked in the fridge and left to die for a good decade. Naruto made a few clones who had the unenviable job of dragging the biohazard out to the back yard where the clones roasted it with a combination wind and fire jutsu.

After that was done, Naruto and Haku took off to their apartments to inform Mr. Adregas that they had to move out due to Naruto's new circumstances before they went to buy a new refrigerator. The whirlpool team meanwhile began to unseal their belongings in their new rooms.

Scene Change: One Week Until Exams: Naruto's Training Ground 12:25

Naruto and Haku were currently back to back in the forest of the Hokage Monument with Haku holding one of his senbon needles while Naruto held a kunai in their respective left hands. Scattered around them were kunai and shuriken. All of a sudden, a small figure rushed Naruto with a training Bo staff spinning in their hands. When the figure reached him, Naruto deflected the staff with the flat of his kunai blade and then shoved his other hand out sending a massively underpowered seal less Great Breakthrough into his opponent's torso sending the figure skidding.

He jerked his hand to the side and shot another blast of wind out as another figure tried to get him from his right side with a pair of training Tonfa. Both figures slid along the ground before a tree stopped their skids. Naruto shook his head at the first figure and said "Come on Konohamaru, if you're going to make Chunin six months after you graduate, you're going to have to be able to come up with better strategies than just rushing your opponent when kunai and shuriken don't work. You as well Undon. Don't be reckless. Use your strengths to help you and your opponents weaknesses to bring them down."

"But boss, what if they don't have a weakness that you can actually use?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto smirked and said "Hope you never have to actually fight that person Konohamaru. But if you ever do have to fight a person like that on a mission, then if possible retreat. If not, the world could always use a little more bang for its buck. A well placed short fuse explosion tag can kill almost anyone if you play your cards right. But even if you don't kill them, you can be sure that the explosion will make things difficult for that person. Just don't try that on an S-ranked nin or a Kage because those kind of guys always seem to have a way of avoiding them even if the fuse is one second long."

The two nodded before all three heard an "Oof!" Looking over his shoulder at Haku showed Moegi holding her stomach from where Haku had lightly punched her. On the ground next to her was her training ninjato.

"You should have listened to Naruto more Moegi. I know that the sword is more direct than a staff or Tonfa but that doesn't mean that you have to rush a person head on with one. Try to find a flow in your movements and attack without putting everything in one swing."

"Yes Haku-sensei." Moegi said as she grabbed her sword and quickly got back up. The three kids looked ready for round two but Naruto held up his free hand signaling a stop before he and Haku turned to a tree and Haku said "How long do you plan on hiding Sand nin?"

The three Academy students looked confused before a red head boy stepped out from behind the tree and looked at them coldly. Konohamaru and his friends looked stunned that a person had been hiding so close from them and yet they hadn't seen neither hide nor hair of the guy until Haku called him out. Said ice user just looked at the red head with his neutral smile on. Naruto had a cocked head look as he studied the fellow nin that he had sensed but hadn't felt deserved a chakra pulse while he helped Konohamaru and his friends train. But now that the boy was actually in his sight, he was beginning to question that thought.

The boy had eyes of a killer. And not just those of one who did it because they had to. No, these eyes said that this boy killed so often he no longer even gave the act more than a second's worth of recognition for said act. That kind of person was dangerous. And in Naruto's book, the earlier the age those eyes make an appearance, the more 'unhinged' the person tended to be.

None of that showed on Naruto's face though as he cocked his head further to the side and said "Judging by your age, I'd say either you're here with your team due to a mission and are just looking around, or your going to be in the Chunin exams a week from today. Either way, that doesn't explain why you seem to have so much interest in me and my partner giving the next generation extra training. Why are you here Sand nin?"

The red head stared into Naruto's eyes for a moment before he said "You're just like me."

Naruto snorted and said "I highly doubt that. Unlike you my troubled little friend, I don't have the eyes of a killer unless I'm actually planning to kill my opponent, which I might add is usually only when I'm taking down bandits who threaten nearby towns. You on the other hand just scream killer. I can even smell the blood that's in that gourd of yours. So what prey tell, makes you and I the same?"

The other boy just stared at Naruto for a moment not blinking. The next moment, a truly ungodly amount of killer intent that Naruto never had the displeasure of feeling before fell upon the clearing causing Konohamaru and his friends to instantly drop on their knees and throw up while Haku began to shake a little at the intent. Naruto was quite sure the reason that his partner wasn't on his knees was because he had experience dealing with other intents from his time with him and Zabuza.

Naruto meanwhile kept his eye lock with the kid unfazed a bit by the intent. He somehow knew that this was a demon's killer intent and now knew just what the kid was talking about. Naruto let the intent wash over him for ten seconds before he let loose with his Uzumaki chakra covering the entire field and negating the KI by sending a modified 'sense' through the chakra using a small amount of his own presence. For everyone else, they went from feeling like there was a viscous monster in front of them that was planning to completely destroy them to a slightly rough ocean with a strong wind blowing. A very big improvement in this case.

The red head meanwhile just kept his stare for a few more moments before he said "You will prove my existence. Until then, I can wait." He then disappeared in a whirlwind of sand.

As the three academy students shakily got to their knees, Haku said "That boy, he has completely killed his heart hasn't he?"

Naruto nodded and said "Not a pretty sight was he?" Turning to Konohamaru and his friends he said "Training's over for today guys. I need to tell the Old Man that we have a foreign jinchuriki in the village. Pick up your tools and then take the rest of the day off."

The three nodded knowing how serious this was since Naruto had informed them of his jinchuriki status and everything it implied when he taught them about all of the different kind of seals that were out there. Naruto and Haku then disappeared leaving the three to their own devices once they cleaned up the ritual circle they had made with how many kunai and shuriken the three had thrown.

Scene Change: One Hour Later

An hour later found Naruto, Haku, and the head of the I&T Department and his second in command standing in front of their village leader with said leader massaging his temples. Sarutobi had been rubbing his forehead for a good half hour as he processed everything Naruto told him and what it could mean for the village. Naruto knew that that had taken the first ten minutes. The last twenty had been about what to do with that information. On his right, Ibiki and Anko were going through the same process since they would have this kid in their exams. Even though he didn't show it, Naruto had been thinking the same thing. The only difference was that he could actually physically stop Gaara before he tried to start something while the other two would have to act quickly once Gaara started to do something.

Finally, Sarutobi sighed and said "I hate to say this, but we can't just deny this Sand nin entry simply for the fact that he's revealed himself to be a jinchuriki. That would raise a stink worse than one of my old student's abandoned labs. But I do not like having a foreign jinchuriki in the exams when Orochimaru is rumored to be the leader of the new Village Hidden in the Sound. Even if it is the Jinchuriki of an ally, the timing is just too convenient. Ibiki, Anko, I want you two to keep as much of an eye on him as possible. Naruto, from what you have told me, he is quite unstable. Jiraiya will be here for the finals of the exams, but I want you to head to Otafuku Gai where he should be right now. Once you find him, tell him that I want him to teach you the Five Pronged Seal and to be back here as soon as he can. Do you understand?"

Naruto nodded and the old leader dismissed them all. The instant he did, Naruto gave a quick salute before he and Haku vanished.

Scene Change: Five Minutes Later: Uzumaki Household

Naruto was standing in front of his house with each of his Jounin vest pockets filled with sealing scrolls that held everything he would need on a mission. In front of him was Haku and the Whirlpool team listening to him as he laid down some basic rules for while he was gone.

"Alright, while I'm gone, if you're in the house, you listen to Haku, no questions asked. Tsunami that includes you. No offense, but I trust Haku more than you right now when it comes to keeping parties out of the house." Tsunami gave a short nod and he continued "Next rule, you are for no reason whatsoever allowed to let anyone into the house. Meet them outside if you have to. But I don't care if it's the Hokage himself, no one steps foot into our yard. And finally, if I find out someone is able to duplicate one of those key copies I gave you then heaven help whoever let it happen because I will turn your life into hell for it. Understood?"

"Yeah, yeah. We get it. No wild parties and don't talk to strangers. We get it already!" Rico said and then muttered under his breath about how unfair it was having to do what an Akunta said.

This of course prompted Rachel to hit him on the head and the other two team members to sigh. Reina then stepped forward and gave Naruto a hug and said "Please stay safe Naruto-sama."

Reina quickly stepped back with a blush on her face. Naruto decidedly ignored the blush since Reina had been in some sort of awed stupor whenever she talked to him ever since he had let loose with his presence a few days ago. Thankfully it wasn't as bad as some fan girls he had seen so he just hoped it would blow over.

Giving one more nod to everyone, Naruto gave a quick two fingered salute as he said "Try not to burn down the house while I'm gone." Then he disappeared leaving absolutely no trace that he had been there besides the two shallow foot prints in the pathway where he had been standing.

Scene Change: Otafuku Gai: Thirty Minutes Later

Naruto was currently on the roof of a small casino in the red light zone with his eyes closed and his chakra field out to its full extent and lightly pulsing every minute. He had been there for roughly fifteen minutes and now had a VERY good idea of what the ENTIRE town looked like. He continued pulsing even as he saw a certain figure turned down a nearby street and headed towards the alley that was between the alley and the brothel next to it. Ten seconds later, the person was up on the roof sitting next to him.

Naruto let his chakra field drop down to just the building they were over and a small dome around the top of the buildings in the block they were currently in. Keeping his eyes closed in concentration that maintaining a slightly misshaped chakra field required, he said "The Old Man said he wants you to teach me the Five Pronged Seal. He also said he wants you back in the village as soon as possible."

Jiraiya looked confused for the first part but sighed at the last. Giving his godson a side glance, he said "The only reason why the Old Man would want me in the village as quick as possible when I'd already planned to be back within a month would be that he's worried about village security. But the only reason why you could possibly need that seal was if you had to seal off a jinchuriki access to their demon's chakra." His eyes narrowed as he asked "Which village?"

"Sand."

Jiraiya sighed again and said "Oh, this is going to be a right pain in the ass, I can tell. Alright kid, lets go. I can't show you that seal just anywhere you know."

Naruto nodded and the two disappeared.

Scene Change: Sarutobi's Office: 10:30

Sarutobi and his clone's head snapped up from his paper work as he felt two presences enter his office without seeming to use either door or window. Seeing the two newcomers he rose an eyebrow and said "That was fast. I wasn't expecting either of you to be back until tomorrow at least."

Jiraiya shrugged as he said "Kid got it in only a few hours. And I just had a few more things to discuss with one of my contacts. Now what's this I hear about a foreign jinchuriki in our village?"

Author's Notes: Next up are the Chunin Exams' first and second exams. Any of you have questions on anything dealing with this story feel free to send me a pm. But I'm getting tired of people using the review option of leaving questions. That is for review people, not to be used as a shortcut to leave a message because you are too lazy to go to my profile. To all of you who have actually used it for what it was for, thank you. For all you other people, I still look forward to your ideas. See you next chapter. (Proceeds to flash out.)


	12. Chunin Exams Let The TorErr Tests Begin

12. Chunin Exams: Let The Tort- Err, Tests Begin

Story Start: Day Of The First Exam: Uzumaki Household: 6:00

A loud yell sounded through the Uzumaki household before a voice could be heard shouting "Naruto! I'm going to kill you! I don't care if you ARE our clan heir, you are so dead!"

In the kitchen, Naruto looked up from the newspaper he had in front of him and chuckled as he thought 'Bucket of water alarm clock successful.' He then disappeared as one of Rico's katars stabbed through the air where he had just been sitting. A thoroughly soaked Rico looked around the room before he spotted Naruto leaning up against the counter still reading his newspaper.

Rico growled and said "What's the big idea dropping a bucket of water on my bed?"

Naruto shrugged and said "I figured you would want a wake up call so that way you would have plenty of time to get ready for the exam."

Rico scowled and said "So you decided to dump five gallons of water on me? Listen you teme, when I get my hands on you, you'll be in the hospital for a month!" He activated his katars splitting function giving him three blades in each hand instead of one.

But before his clansmen could attempt to murder him, Naruto saw Rachel enter the room at a brisk pace and promptly bopped Rico on the head as she growled out "Rico! Don't talk to Naruto like that! And keep your voice down, you probably woke up the entire village with your yelling."

"Ow! Rachel, don't hit me like that! Besides, he deserves what's coming to him for dumping water on me like that!" Rico shouted earning another hit to the head.

"Actually, it was probably a good idea. Otherwise you might have slept in until lunch time." Reina said as she entered the kitchen and opened the fridge looking for the milk

Rico scowled at his sister but before he could make a retort, Tsunami walked in and said "Just drop it Rico. There is no point trying to start a pointless argument this early in the morning."

Rico's mouth opened and closed as he tried to form an argument against the treatment he was being shown this morning but a pointed glare from his half awake sensei stopped him in his tracks.

Naruto smirked at Rico's misfortune before he said "As entertaining as this is, we really need to get going. You ready Haku?"

Haku, who had seen the entire event play out from his own seat at the table where he had been finishing off a bagel nodded as he stood and said "I'm ready Naruto."

Naruto nodded and said "Then lets go. Remember guys, be at the academy no later than nine." And with those final words of parting, he promptly disappeared while Haku formed a mirror of ice and followed his partner.

Scene Change: Academy

Naruto reappeared in front of the academy. Ten seconds later a mirror of ice appeared and Haku walked out of it before its molecules separated and the mirror turned into vapor that quickly diffused in the morning air. Grinning at Haku, Naruto said "Have fun." Getting a grin in return, Naruto watched as his partner walked into the academy before he disappeared again as he headed to the Hokage tower where a number of Jounin were planning on watching the first exam through a crystal ball that was twenty times bigger than the Hokage's personal one.

Haku meanwhile was making his way to the third floor. While he was on the second, he saw Kotetsu and Izumo cover one of the class signs in a Genjutsu and then henge into younger versions of themselves. Reaching the third floor, Haku walked into room 301 and joined the group of Jounin who were waiting for Ibiki.

Haku joined in the small talk for a few minutes before Ibiki came through the doorway of the connected classroom and said "Alright people, lets go over one more time just what is and isn't acceptable for the maggots to do."

Three hours later, Haku, who had a thin faceted ice mirror in one of the corners of the room, saw Naruto's relatives and their teammate enter the room. The three Whirlpool nins took a quick but thorough stock of their surroundings showing that they knew that this was indeed a competition where they were the minority and most likely first to be targeted for that fact. After their quick scan, the three walked along the wall until they were in the corner on the other side of the wall that the mirror was attached to. Haku noticed that the three Stone teams seemed to pay them the most attention and made a note to be ready to step in if anything got too far out of hand.

Five minutes after that, the Leaf's three rookie teams filed in one after the other with only twenty seconds between them tops. Haku smirked at Sasuke's misfortune of his two biggest fan girls having a tug of war with him. But then a white haired Leaf Genin approached them and showed them a deck of cards causing Haku's eyes to narrow. No ninja worth his Genin rank would give out information to potential enemies. That boy was hiding something and Haku didn't like the fact that he didn't know what it was.

"I see you've noticed it as well." Ibiki said from Haku's side where he was watching the Genin as well.

Haku nodded and said "That one is planning something. Whether it is to use the rookies as meat shields, or to get a read on their mannerisms so he knows what to expect from them, I'm not sure. And it could be something else completely."

Ibiki grunted and the two continued to watch the glasses wearing nin continue to string the rookies along. But then the two saw the team from Sound begin to move through the crowd towards him. Ibiki's eyes narrowed as he and Haku watched the nin avoid a punch from one of the Sound nins only to fall to his knees and release the contents of his stomach.

"I think they've waited long enough." Ibiki growled.

"Yes sir." Haku said before he donned his mask that had had the Mist mark smoothed over and then repainted. Then the two of them and a small number of the Jounin who were with them vanished in shunshins. Reappearing in the room with all the Genin, Ibiki shouted out "That's enough! There is to be no fighting unless we say so. Anyone who does so without our permission will be thrown out of the exams. Am I clear?"

The man got nods from all of the Genin, most of which seemed terrified of the human bear that was glaring at them. Ibiki shot a particularly nasty glare at the Sound team before he held up a card with the number one on it and said "Good, now that we understand each other, pick up one of these numbers, get into the next room and sit down in your seat so I can explain the next test."

There was a large scrabble as the Genin quickly transferred themselves from the waiting room to the testing room. None of them seemed to want to make the bear in front of them angry at them. Once everyone was seated, Ibiki strode to the front of the room with Haku by his side. Turning to face them, he began laying down the rules.

"Alright maggots, listen up, because I'm only going to say the rules once. And no questions either. Now in front of you you'll find a piece of paper. Do not flip it over until I explain all of the rules. Rule number one! Each of you starts out here with ten points. The test has ten questions, each worth one point. For each question you get wrong, we subtract a point from you. Get all ten right, and you retain the ten points you have. But if, for example, you answer three questions incorrectly, we take your ten points.. … subtract one point for every wrong answer… and your total drops down to seven.

Rule number 2... This written test is still a team event. Passing or failing will be determined by the sum of the points held by three members of each cell. The object is for each team to have as few deductions as possible from its joint thirty point total."

Rule Number 3. If, during the course of the exam, a candidate does anything out of the ordinary… …in other words, anything that leads the proctors to determine that he or she has cheated… … we subtract two points from each member of the cheater's team."

"We'll be watching you." One of the Jounin in the middle of the vertical row along the windows said while tapping his clipboard.

"As will I." Haku said before mirrors formed in the room with one in each corner and two on the ceiling. The Genin's stunned murmuring turned to stunned silence when another mirror formed behind Haku and he stepped back and seemed to merge into the mirror causing his image to appear in all of them.

Ibiki gave a dark chuckle and said "Last rule. If any individual loses all ten of his or her points, that person's entire cell, regardless of how the other two members do.. … will be disqualified!"

"But that's unfair!" Sakura shouted with other Genin muttering their agreement.

"Silence!" Ibiki shouted making them all shut up before he said "Those are the rules. If you don't like them, then you and your team can leave now. Now then, you have one hour, get started."

There was the sound of papers flipping before Ibiki and all of the other proctors grinned at the gurgled sounds some of the Genin made.

Grinning to himself, the scarred one thought 'Let the fun begin.'

The next forty five minutes proved interesting for Haku and the other proctors as various Genin found ingenious ways to cheat without being caught. Unfortunately, they had to let the last Uchiha and the few Hyugas in attendance to get by using their dojutsu even if only Hinata tried to hide the fact that she was using it with a minor Genjutsu. Others were much more intriguing in figuring out how they were getting their answers.

The whirlpool nin had each sent chakra through the tables they were sitting at and pushed a thin amount into the other test papers to get their answers. The Sound nin seemed to be actually listening to everyone writing for the answers while the Rock nin appeared to be using the vibrations from all of the people moving pencils across paper to know what to write down. And while most of the other Genin didn't do anything that was really that fancy, some of them came up with some rather unusual methods.

Finally, forty five minutes later, and nearly half the teams caught with their figurative hands in the cookie jar, Ibiki called time as he said "Alright maggots, pencils down, it's time for the final question." As soon as he had everyone's attention, he continued.

"Before we begin, there's a few extra rules you need to be aware of. First off, you must chose whether or not to take the tenth question."

"What? Why would anyone choose to not take the tenth question?" A Sand kunoichi with her hair in four ponytails asked.

Ibiki gained a dark grin as he said "Because of the next rule. If you refuse to take the question, you automatically get a zero on your test regardless of how many points you have and you and your team fails."

"What? Then of course we'll take it! What kind of idiot wouldn't?" Kiba shouted.

Ibiki grinned and said "Someone who also knows the last rule. If you do choose to take it, and get it wrong, then your team's score is brought to zero and you'll never be able to take the exams again. Furthermore, you will be kept at the rank of Genin forever even if you fight in ten shinobi wars."

Haku mentally chuckled at all of the Genin freaking out and thought 'And now we see who really has the strength to go the farthest.' But even as he thought this, teams started dropping out like flies. Sometimes it was just one of the team members deciding that he or she couldn't handle the stress. Other times it was the whole team. One thing Haku noticed though was that the Whirlpool and Rock nins didn't seem to be the least bit worried.

Haku frowned at that wondering if those four teams knew something the others didn't, but before she could ponder it for too long, Ibiki took one last glance around the room and said "It's time for the final question. If any more of you are going to play it safe, then now is the time to leave."

There were a few worried looks, but no one else left. Nodding to himself, Ibiki said "Well then, I guess we'll just get to it then. For those of you who stayed for the tenth question….congratulations, you all passed."

Haku swore he heard crickets outside during the ten seconds of pure silence in the room as the Genin's brains tried to match what they just heard with something they could understand. Sadly, the quiet is always before the storm.

"WHAT?"

That one word was the only one that the proctors understood as the Genin began shooting questions left, right, and center after the collective shout. Ibiki grew a tick mark before he did a few hand signs that the rookie Leaf nin instantly recognized. They were just in time to cover their ears before Ibiki's head grew to truly massive proportions and he shouted out **"WELL YOU MAGGOTS SHUT UP!"**

Ibiki's head returned to normal proportions and he glared at all of the now silent Genin before he said "Now then, allow me to explain just what this was all about."

Scene Change: One Hour Later: Gate One Access To Forest Of Death

Anko gave another count of the teams in front of her and thought 'Twenty four teams. They've either got balls of gold or Ibiki is getting soft on me. Nah, not possible. If Ibiki was getting soft, he'd have retired by now.' Gaining a grin that scared the Genin even more than Ibiki's did, Anko said "Alright maggots. Welcome to my little home away from home. This here is Training Area 44, although me and the rest of us ACTUAL shinobi like to call it the Forest of Death. Don't worry though, one little run through here and you'll be calling it that as well."

As if to add credence to that statement, a massive roar filled the air causing the trees of the forest to lightly sway as if the massive behemoths of the forest were caught in a rough wind. Anko turned slightly to look over her shoulder with a grin and said "Sounds like the tiger population is doing well."

All of the Genin stared at her as they wondered if she was serious and even more terrifying, how big a tiger must need to be to be able to roar like that.

Anko snapped them out of it as she said "Alright, here's how this exam is going to work. This will be a no holds barred capture the flag battle that will take place for five days, or one hundred and twenty hours. Your 'flags' are these two scrolls." Here Anko reached into her pocket and pulled out two scrolls as she continued. "Each team will be given either a Heaven or an Earth scroll. Your objective is to collect the other scroll and make it to the tower in the center of this forest before five days is up. Each team will get one scroll for three of these waivers." She put the scrolls back and took out some waivers from a pocket that was sewed to the inside of her coat. "The Leaf village isn't responsible if you die in there or not, hence the waivers. You have thirty minutes for you and your team mates to sign that form and to get a scroll from that booth by the fence. Think carefully before you sign because you are putting more than your ninja career on the line if you decide to go into that forest. Any questions?"

"Yeah! What about food?" Chouji shouted.

Anko smirked and said "There's plenty of nature's bounty in the forest. Just be careful what you eat, cuz there's also plenty of nature's wrath in there as well."

Chouji slumped over as Anko said "Now if there's no more questions, start signing!"

Thirty minutes later, all of the teams had signed their forms and were heading to their gates. A Waterfall team stayed behind near Gate One, but otherwise it was just Anko and the three Chunin who had been sitting in the booth. Deciding to indulge herself in one of her vices while she waited to send the poor Genin into her favorite place in the village, the snake summoner made a mud clone and gave it some money before sending it to get her some dango.

The clone got back ten minutes later, just in time for Anko to begin the exam. Taking the bag of dango and cup of red bean soup from the clone, she dispelled it and set her treat on the booth's counter, sending a small glare at the Chunin there warning them not to touch. She then grabbed the handheld microphone that was hanging from one of the walls and clicked it on.

From speakers positioned on all forty four gates, Anko's voice gained all of the teams' attention as she said "Alright maggots, the second exam begins, NOW!" Forty four gates all opened at once and the teams rushed into the forest as the Chunin closed the gates after them and proceeded to lock them with chains that were held together with three padlocks.

Thirty minutes later, Anko was laying on the top of the shack putting the finishing touches of the Hidden Leaf symbol she was making in a nearby tree with her dango sticks when a Chunin suddenly appeared in a shunshin. Turning her head to look at him, she saw the serious look he had and said "What is it?"

The Chunin gave a brief salute before he said "I need you to come with me ma'am. Bodies of a team that is taking this exam were just found. _Outside_ of the training area."

Anko frowned before she leapt off the roof and landed next to him and said "Lead the way."

The Chunin led her to a small ring of Buddha's that was a ten minute walk from the training area. Inside the ring were two more Chunin looking down at three bodies. As Anko walked into the ring she saw blood on some of the Buddha's with one's front almost completely covered in the stuff.

Shaking her head, she said "That is no way to treat a Buddha."

"I said the exact same thing." One of the Chunin said before motioning to the three bodies and said "We called you as soon as we learned that they were supposed to be in the exams. Also, there's something wrong with their faces. It's like they never existed."

Anko's eyes narrowed as she gently moved one of the bodies so that she could see what the man was talking about. When she saw the face, or rather the lack of one, her eyes widened before they narrowed instantly. Turning to one of the Chunin, she said "You have their Ids right?"

The Chunin nodded and handed her the three Ninja Passports that contained all of their information. Flipping it open, Anko let out a curse before she slapped it shut and said "Shit, they're already in the forest! You, go get the Hokage and tell him his old student's in the forest. Let him also know that I've gone ahead. You go find Uzumaki and tell him that I need him to head to the forest and search every inch of it for a person with the same chakra as my curse seal. And I want you to go to the NCIS team and have them check this crime scene for anything we missed." (NCIS: Ninja Criminal Investigation Squad is an idea of EroSlackerMicha's)

Each Chunin saluted before they rushed off to carry out their orders. Once she was relatively alone, Anko frowned at the bodies and thought 'What are you planning you bastard?' Shaking her head, she then turned back to the forest and rushed towards a confrontation with a demon of her past.

Scene Change: Uzumaki Compound

Naruto was currently taking advantage of the peace and quiet that was so rare in his household nowadays by checking all of the seals that resided in the perimeter of his house. As he checked one particularly nasty seal in a tree that was at seven o'clock in relation to the front door, he said "What is it?"

The nearby Chunin, who wisely was staying out of the ring of trees, gave a quick salute and said "There have been intruders in the Second Exam. Anko said she wanted you to search the forest and look for someone who had the same chakra as the one in her curse seal."

Naruto's head snapped around so fast the Chunin actually heard it crack a little. Naruto looked at the Chunin with dead serious eyes as he said "Is that really what she said? Word for word?"

The Chunin nodded, barely getting his head down an inch before Naruto was gone.

Scene Change: Forest OF Death

Anko stared at her old traitor of a master from where she was standing in a tree across from him as she tried to stall the sick man. "So what are you doing here? Surely something as lowly as participating in a Chunin exam is beneath you." She said.

"Ku Ku Ku, true, but it's not the exam that interests me, but the participants. One in particular is _very_ interesting. Young Sasuke will allow me to go far with my plans." Orochimaru said.

Anko frowned but before she could say anything to that remark, Orochimaru's eyes widened before a kunai was suddenly in his chest with a blond jinchuriki holding the Kunai's handle in a reverse grip. Orochimaru continued to stare in shock for a few more seconds before he suddenly grinned and melted into a big clump of mud.

Naruto disappeared and reappeared next to Anko with a frown on his face as he said "Damn, I thought for sure I had gotten the real one."

"Ku Ku Ku, my, what speed. If I hadn't reacted instantly to my instincts and switched with a mud clone than that could have been VERY painful." Orochimaru said as he came out of the trunk of the tree his clone had been standing on. Naruto frowned at him as he put his kunai away before his hands became coated in chakra as he formed half ram signs and held his arms loosely by his sides. Orochimaru rose an amused eyebrow as he said "Oh? Do you really think that you stand a chance against a Sannin when you no longer have the element of surprise?"

Naruto cocked his own eyebrow before he disappeared. Orochimaru gained a confused look as he and Anko felt so much chakra surround them it was actually slightly visible.

"There are four degrees of burns. First, Second, Third, and Fourth. Let's go with Fourth Degree."

Orochimaru and Anko looked around at the sound of Naruto's voice that seemed to come from all around before a massive Fourth Degree burn as wide as Naruto's hand suddenly appeared across the White Snake's chest. Before Orochimaru could even register the pain, another burn just as wide crossed the first burn making a large x. Then both of his arms were left with thin burns going down their sides. Only then did the enemy begin to feel the extreme amounts of pain.

As Orochimaru gritted his teeth to force himself not to scream, another burn appeared running straight down his back with another running across before the first was even done forming. Then he was reacquainted with a different kind of pain as the blonde reappeared in front of him with his foot already in the side of his opponent's face. As Orochimaru went flying towards the end of the branch, Naruto's hands disappeared before they reappeared a second later in the bird sign while Naruto drew in a massive breath before exhaling with a shout of "Wind Style: Wind Senbon!"

Hundreds of invisible senbon needles made of wind shot out of the blonde's mouth at impossible speeds and tore through Orochimaru's body. However, when the body landed at the very end of the branch, it lost all similarities to a human body as it caved in on itself and was revealed to be a mud clone. Naruto's eyes narrowed at the mass of mud as he softly cursed under his breath.

"Damn it, when did he make the switch? I didn't even detect it. _Where_ is that bastard?"

Naruto's chakra mist suddenly turned into a chakra fog as the blond tried to locate his target. Anko meanwhile was just staring at her comrade in disbelief as she thought 'He actually forced him to retreat? I know he's an elite Jounin for a reason but still.'

Meanwhile, Orochimaru was currently making his way out of dodge underground. He finally felt that he was far enough away when he came to the last 'ring' of trees before the fence. Pulling himself out of the ground, the snake winced at the burns across his upper body and arms hitting open air. Looking back into the forest he frowned and thought 'That boy is dangerous. I will need to make plans so that he doesn't interfere with my goals.' He then turned back to the fence before seeming to melt back into the ground as he left the area to nurse his wounds.

AND CUT!

I know I could go a little bit further but that just seems like the perfect place to stop. A little short I know but hopefully the next chapter will make up for it.


	13. Chunin Exams Prelims

13. Chunin Exams: Prelims

Author's Notes: First and Foremost, please forgive me for the long wait. My only excuse is that I've been a lazy ass sod preferring to read instead of writing. That said, I plan to have the next chapter up by the weekend after this has been posted.

Chapter Start

For some, five days in the forest felt like the longest torture imaginable. For others it passed by in a blur. Naruto was one of the ones who seemed to have plenty of time to analyze everything he could have done differently when he encountered Orochimaru. Yeah he had the upper hand the entire time, but did he actually do anything meaningful? The only thing he had killed in that forest were a couple of mud clones. The actual snake itself had gotten away and was doing who knows what right now.

Naruto shook his head from those thoughts as he looked 'up' from his position where he was standing upside down on the ceiling of the battle room in the tower of death. Below him were 10 teams standing in rows of three looking forward at the Hokage where he was speaking in front of Ibiki, Anko, a bunch of Chunin, and all of the team's Jounin instructors.

Well, all but the Sound's. They were pretty sure that Orochimaru had planned to try and slip in as their Jounin but with the Fourth Degree burns Naruto gave him five days ago, that clearly wasn't possible. No Genjutsu can cover up that much pain even if it was the numbing kind that Fourth Degrees brought about after the first hour.

Shaking his head from those thoughts, he instead looked back at the teams and thought 'Almost exactly half the teams passed. What are the odds of that happening?' Turning his head to look at Anko, he had to smirk at her face and thought 'Look at her, she's pissed. She probably thought Ibiki had been getting soft for letting so many teams through and is now probably wondering what the hell's wrong with her beloved forest.'

Said ten teams were the team his distant relatives and their teammate formed, one of the three teams the Hidden Rock Village sent, a team from the Village Hidden in the Rain, the team from Sound, a team from their ally the Sand, and from the Leaf village, the three rookie teams as well as Team 9 from last year and an older team that consisted of a white haired teen and his two teammates who wore veils to cover their faces and shades to cover their eyes.

He heard his brother Jinchuriki say something about enough with the talking and get on with the life and death stuff. Rolling his eyes, Naruto disappeared and reappeared leaning against him with his arm across his shoulders surprising everybody as he said "Impatient this one is, is he not Lord Hokage?"

The redhead's eyes widened even as sand rushed at Naruto, but the blond was gone the instant the last word was out of his mouth and was now standing beside said leader who was currently chuckling. Almost all of the Genin in front of them had wide eyes besides the Whirlpool nin and the rookies in Teams 7 and 8.

As he enjoyed all of their stunned expressions, Naruto took a second to look at the mark on Sasuke's neck. It seemed to be throbbing in pain every once in a while and Naruto frowned a little knowing that it would have to be sealed soon.

That small frown turned into a big one as Ino decided to open her big mouth and shouted "Naruto! You idiot, what the hell are you doing here?"

From her spot behind Ino, Rachel began frowning at the blond while Naruto lazily shifted his focus over to her and said "Lord Hokage asked me to be the proctor for the final exam. Now kindly be quiet so I can explain what the third exam will be."

Ino bristled and looked about ready to get into a one-sided shouting match with her former 'classmate,' but a stern look from her sensei stopped her cold. Nodding to them all, Naruto said "For those of you who do not know me, allow me to introduce myself. I am Naruto Uzumaki, and as I've just said, I'll be your third exam proctor. Now then, the third exam will consist of a group of one on one matches that will be held within a month's time in the Chunin's arena in the village. Why the month wait you ask? It's so the delegates who are coming to watch you compete have time to get here. Now normally, this is where we would offer any of you to drop out and then draw lots to see who goes against who. But with so many teams passing the second exam, we need to have preliminary rounds since no one wants to spend all day watching a tournament where thirty six brats are having slap fights with each other."

Most of said thirty six brats glared at Naruto who didn't care while the adults in the room all chuckled. Keeping his straight face, Naruto said "Now, as I said, the fights in a month will be one on ones and these preliminary rounds will be as well. That said, if any of you are here simply because your teammates wanted to become Chunin then feel free to walk right out that door because from here on out, it's all or nothing."

"No one is forfeiting. So can you stop with the useless talking and get on with it already?" Gaara asked with an annoyed voice as a small amount of killing intent began to fill the air making everyone nervous as they glanced at him.

Naruto's head rolled to the side a little as he sent a lazy look at the Jinchuriki before he seemed to flicker for the briefest of instants and the preteen's eyes widened as he folded over holding his stomach. As everyone stared in shock, Naruto said "Anyone else want to be a smartass about this? No? Good. Now, are there any one who wants to forfeit?"

When no one raised their hands to forfeit Naruto smiled at them and said "Good, now the rules for the preliminaries are as follows: You lose if you forfeit obviously, if you lose consciousness, if I believe you cannot continue, or if you just plain die. If I tell you to stop fighting then you will do so or else. And believe me, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry. Now, the matches will be chosen randomly by the computer screen behind me." As Naruto had been talking, said computer screen's cover had slid down revealing itself. "When your name is displayed come down for your fight. Otherwise you are to remain on the balconies on either wall and stay out of the way of the fight currently going on. If I catch any of you interfering in anyone else's fight, I will disqualify your entire team."

Naruto glared at them as he said the last sentence and everyone gulped before he suddenly did a one-eighty as he said "Right then! Enough talking! Let's see who's fighting first!"

The board lit up and began going through names for a few minutes before it stopped on the first two of a long series of matches. Naruto shot a quick look over his shoulder before he looked back at the Genin and said "Sasuke Uchiha, Daisuke Dangai, you two are up first. Everyone else get off the floor."

All of the Genin besides Sasuke and one of the Rock Genin, a heavy built guy who looked like he was part of a cliff face, turned and headed to the balcony. As their sensei passed them, Naruto saw Kakashi pause and whisper something to Sasuke. He didn't bother with it since he'd already been given his orders when it came to the Uchiha.

Once the three were alone on the floor Naruto asked "Do either of you have any problems being the first ones?" Seeing the two shake their heads, Naruto said "Very well then, First Round of the preliminaries: Sasuke Uchiha vs Daisuke Dangai begin!"

Naruto gave a quick but long jump away landing five feet away leaving Sasuke to study his massive opponent. Daisuke, a black haired boy with grey eyes studied him as well before he shifted into a heavy set Taijutsu stance and gave a noncommittal grunt as he said "So I get to face the so called "Last Uchiha" huh? Should be interesting."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

Daisuke frowned and said "Not much of a conversationalist are you?"

"Hn."

Naruto and everyone else sweat dropped at Sasuke's response before Daisuke was suddenly in Sasuke's face with said face full of a fist. As Daisuke's right hook connected with Sasuke's face, the Uchiha was sent flying and landed skidding halfway to the wall. Sakura and Ino's shouts of "Sasuke-kun!" permeated the air while everyone else was giving off soft whistles at the big guy's speed. Naruto meanwhile had a raised eyebrow at just how fast Sasuke had managed to recover from his skidding position. The one-of-the-duck-hair had barely hit the ground before he was moving his body from out of control skid into a crouch and thrusting his hand into his weapons pouch. Two seconds later Sasuke's hand was launching a brace of shuriken at his opponent before his right foot hit the wall stopping his backward progress and he rushed at his opponent.

Daisuke brought his own hand to his pouch and grabbed a kunai to deflect the shuriken before he blocked Sasuke's incoming kick with his other hand which he closed around Sasuke's leg and used to toss the Uchiha over his shoulder. Daisuke then followed up with a punch to Sasuke's stomach that sent him into the arena floor coughing up a little blood from the force of the blow.

As Sasuke tried to get his breath back, Daisuke took a step back and looked down at his opponent with his head cocked to the side curiously and said "You know, I would have expected a Uchiha to be doing better right now."

"Shut up." Sasuke growled as he got to his feet.

"Seriously though, the Sharingan hasn't even made an appearance yet, so I have to wonder, do you just not care, or are you really that weak?" Daisuke asked in that same curious tone of voice that continued to piss Sasuke off.

"I said shut up!" Sasuke roared as he activated his Sharingan and blurred as he rushed to Daisuke and kicked upwards in a move that anyone who spent anytime fighting with a user of the Iron Fist would recognize instantly as he kicked his opponent in the chin sending him flying in the air and kicked up off the floor after him.

Sasuke positioned himself under Daisuke and placed his finger against his back temporarily paralyzing is opponent. Daisuke somehow was able to turn his head to look back at Sasuke and said "Dancing Leaf Shadow huh?" Sasuke swore he was smirking at him right now like he knew it was copied.

"That's right. From here it's all original though." Sasuke said. Before he suddenly flinched as black marks began to make their way out of the curse mark out of their seal.

Meanwhile on the arena floor, Naruto saw the seal activate and thought 'Shit, the seals activating!' But before he could go through with his orders, he saw the black marks recede. Sighing with relief, he thought 'I guess Sasuke is made of stronger stuff than I thought.' Giving a quick look around faster than most human eyes could follow he thought 'But does this mean that Teme of a snake is nearby?'

Back in the air, Sasuke had just finished pushing the curse mark back into its sealed form. Taking a breath, he said "Sorry about that, now then, as I was saying, Lion's Barrage!" Sasuke launched a kick that Daisuke was able to block but Sasuke used the block to pivot around his bigger opponent and began to really lay into his opponent's other side especially his right arm to keep him from blocking anything else until they landed on the ground and he tumbled away until Kakashi stopped his progress with his foot.

Naruto meanwhile was looking at Daisuke who was slowly getting up from the floor while clutching his right arm that the blond could see was broken in at least three places. Feeling the blonde's gaze, Daisuke glanced up at Naruto and shook his head to the unasked question. Naruto nodded and said "Daisuke is unable to battle anymore. Therefore, the winner of the first match is Sasuke Uchiha." 'How anti-climatic.'

As a medic rushed over to look at Daisuke's arm, Ino and Sakura began yelling about how cool Sasuke was and how they knew he would win. They shut rather quickly though when Naruto and the other kunoichi Genin in the room shot them a glare. Said Uchiha was meanwhile being lead away by Kakashi out the double doors. Naruto studiously ignored that though as he looked back up at the board and sent a small pulse of chakra to a seal in his pocket to signal the board to start its second sequence.

The board stopped its shuffling and Naruto rose an eyebrow as he and all of the other Hidden Leaf Jounin each thought 'Oh, you have got to be kidding me.' The Old Man meanwhile was looking at the board like it had just placed two mountains of paperwork on his desk back at the Hokage Tower.

Sighing Naruto turned his head back forward and said "Will Shino Aburame and Suzumebachi Kamizuri please come down."

As his former 'classmate' and his opponent walked down the two balconies, Naruto took a moment to study the kunoichi from the Hidden Rock village. She had the brown hair that was typical of the population of their continent and grey eyes. She wore a battle kimono that stopped at her knees and was cut to leave her shoulders bare. Her eyes were currently narrowed in a glare at her opponent as they walked down the stairs.

Shino meanwhile walked down the stairs with his head bent in thought. Any clues to what he was thinking were hidden by the shades he wore although Naruto and the other Jounin in the room could hear his coat buzzing as the Destruction Beetles that were inside the Aburame's body prepared themselves for battle.

Once the two were in front of him, Naruto said "Round two, Shino Aburame vs. Suzumebachi Kamizuri, begin!" Chopping his hand down as he jumped away, Naruto was barely two feet away before Suzumebachi tossed out her arm and three shuriken flew towards Shino with five bees right on their tail. Shino retaliated by lifting his arms and sent a small group of bugs out in front of him which formed a wall stopping the shuriken before ten of the beetles broke off from the wall and rushed the bees tearing into them in pincer movements before continuing on towards his opponent.

Suzume in turn made four hand signs in quick selection calling a large swarm of bees with what looked like miniature paper bombs into existence. The swarm rushed towards the wall of insects in front of it slicing through the ten insects in front of it before they all slammed into the wall and exploded with enough force to slightly shake the room they were in. Suzume smirked as the smoke cleared and revealed Shino's body on the floor badly burnt and bleeding.

Her smirk quickly disappeared though as she felt a two kunai pressing up against her throat and a voice from the wall behind her said "Do you yield?" Suzume turned her head to see a third Shino step out of the shadows cast by the foreign side's balcony.

"How?" Suzume asked and the third Shino pointed back to where the 'body' was. When she looked back forward, the blood was gone and the body burst into insects.

"Insect clone and Genjutsu combination. I was never actually in front of you." Shino said. Suzume let out a curse before she sighed and said "Fine, I yield."

"Winner: Shino Aburame." Naruto called before pushing chakra into the board's seal again as the two insect clones holding their opponent hostage broke apart and went back inside Shino's coat as he walked away. The screen beeped and Naruto looked back before calling out "Ino Yamanaka, Rachel Aliston, you two are up."

Ino began walking towards the stairs while Rachel decided on the more direct approach and hopped over the railing, softening her landing with chakra. As she walked calmly towards Naruto he gave her a slight nod which was returned before he turned his attention to Ino as she made her way down. Once Ino had finally joined them and the two girls were standing across from each other, Naruto rose his hand and slashed it down as he called out "Third round: start!"

Naruto jumped away from the two. But even though the fight had started, Rachel was just staring at Ino with an intensity that made Ino, who found she couldn't look away nervous. After a minute of having an unwilling staring contest, Ino finally couldn't take it and shouted "What are you staring at?"

Rachel cocked her head an inch to the right as she said "Tell me something please, is it true you were once a classmate of Naruto-sama?"

Ino's brows furrowed as she said "Naruto-sama? Why the hell would you call that loser something like that?"

"I see. So you were. And it seems you've already answered the other question I had." Rachel said with a small frown on her face.

"Wh-" Ino started to ask before she got a fist in her chest and was sent flying by Rachel who had pumped chakra into her legs to close the four foot gap between them so fast it looked like a blur to most of the genin present.

"I would have thought that a clan heir such as yourself would have known not to insult another clan heir like you so obviously have a habit of doing." As she was speaking, Rachel reached over her shoulders and removed the two hook swords from her back. Ino gulped at the sight of the swords which had hooks at the end and the cloth wrapped steel handles set in a bladed dented rectangle. At the other end of the handle was a short spike of steel. (Think Shaolin Monk Hook sword used Deadliest Warrior.)

Rachel's storm grey eyes turned cold as she said "One should always show the proper respect to those around them. And in my eyes, Naruto-sama has earned that respect. He has given me and my team food and lodgings in his household for our stay here when he could have just simply left us in a hotel. And yet you seem to have no respect for him whatsoever. Even if he's not a member of your clan, he is still your superior officer. Anyone who doesn't respect their superiors does not deserve the rank of Chunin. I'll be glad to disqualify you."

Ino had finally gotten up during Rachel's speech and glared at Rachel as she drew two kunai and said "Will I'll be glad to beat down any one who worships that Dead Last like you obviously do!" The Yamanaka charged at Rachel swiping at her with two kunai only for Rachel to swiftly swipe both blades away with her own as she sidestepped and sent a roundhouse kick to her opponent's head sending her flying again.

"You know, if there's one thing I hate more than someone who doesn't show proper respect to those who are in charge of looking after you and showing you the ropes, I would have to say it's those who don't take this kind of thing seriously. I'm sure you know the types, those who think this is just a game or are expecting some knight in shining armor to appear when they screw up. After all, where I come from, if you enter this business then you need to be willing to go all the way." As Rachel spoke, she placed her swords back onto her back seeing no point in staining them with a fan girl's blood before she blazed through hand signs and shouted "Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!"

As the three bullets of water shot out of Rachel's mouth, Ino kicked the ground from her laying down position and back flipped away in time to avoid them. It was a good thing she did since the projectiles left craters two inches wide where they hit the floor. But before Ino could sigh in relief, she heard Rachel's voice whispering behind her.

"Pathetic. Lightning Style: Knockout Palm Jutsu."

Ino's body twitched once as Rachel's lightning covered palm hit her spine before her eyes rolled up to the back of her skull and she fell over. Rachel took a step back as Naruto appeared next to Ino's body and performed a quick diagnostic jutsu to make sure Ino's body was still functioning before he stood up and said "Winner: Rachel Aliston." Rachel gave a quick bow of respect to Naruto before she headed to the bleachers while the medics approached to revive her opponent.

'She doesn't seem to mess around.' Sarutobi thought as Naruto used the seal again and the board began its job. When it finished cycling through names, Naruto called out "Hinata Hyuga, Sai. You're next."

Hinata took a deep breath as she turned and began walking towards the stairs. Sai meanwhile kept a blank face as he walked beside her.

'Hm, a Root member that specializes in ink ninjutsu vs. a member of the Hyuga clan. Sai is going to have trouble on this one that's for sure. It should still be a good fight though.' Kakashi thought to himself as his 'student' turned to face his opponent in front of Naruto.

'Now everyone here will see how pathetic you are and that it is your fate to remain a failure.' Neji thought with grim satisfaction.

Naruto looked between the two as he thought 'Time to see what Hinata's been up to. I just hope this fight isn't as short as the last few.' Shaking his head from those thoughts, he gave both one last look as he said "Are you two ready?" Sai gave a small nod maintaining his blank look while Hinata gave him a small smile with hers. Naruto nodded before he rose his hand and said "Very well then, begin!" He quickly slashed his hand down and jumped back.

The instant the last letter was out of Naruto's mouth, Sai copied his actions and jumped back while pulling out a brush and scroll. As soon as his feet touched ground, Sai had a painted wolf on his scroll. Making a hand sign, Sai calmly said "Ninja Art: Beast Art Mimicry." The wolf shot off the paper and rushed at high speed towards Hinata, who had also jumped back while activating her Byakugan. However, as soon as it got in arm's reach of her, she blasted it apart with a palm strike filled with chakra.

The wolf exploded in a splatter of ink that Hinata avoided by jumping back as she didn't want to get any of the possibly reusable ink on her. Sai meanwhile cocked his head and gave a small false smile as he said "Hm, it seems that I was right. My drawings are ineffective against you. But what if there is more than one?" As he was speaking, Sai had been constantly drawing on his scroll. As soon as he finished speaking, he made his hand sign again and ten tigers rushed off the paper and moved with incredible speed to surround the Hyuga heiress.

Hinata shoved the small jolt of anxiousness that entered her body from being surrounded out the door before it had a chance to get a foothold in her body. Once she was surrounded and the tigers prepared to pounce she spun with her arms held out sending a pulse of chakra out that slashed through the ink constructs as she called out "Chakra Wave!"

Up in the stands, Neji looked on in shock as he thought 'What was that? It almost looked like an incomplete rotation. But a rotation isn't supposed to continue expanding like that.' Meanwhile, Sai was having slightly different thoughts.

'Well that's unusual. I did not know the Hyuga had a jutsu that had a larger range then the rotation. I will have to be on guard for that. But still, since none of my creations can get to her, I'll have to go in myself. My sword should help keep her at bay.' Sai put thought to action as he drew his tanto. When Hinata saw the short blade that was flat on the end, she tensed before sliding into a slightly different Gentle Fist stance.

Sai took notice of the new stance and slipped into one of his own before he ran towards Hinata and sent a fast slash from down low going up at an angle on Hinata's left side hoping to get past her arm and do enough damage to make the Hyuga heiress withdraw without too much damage done to her person. However, Hinata wasn't planning on making this easy for Sai as her left hand suddenly became coated in chakra that compacted to the point of looking solid. With the dense chakra covering her hand, Hinata slapped the sword away from her and sent her right hand towards Sai's chest. Sai countered by flicking his wrist and slapped Hinata's hand away with the flat side of his tanto. The attack by Hinata's hand was diverted, but Sai was caught off guard by her leg hooking his ankle and dropping him onto the floor.

Sai quickly rolled to the side when he saw Hinata's other foot surrounded in chakra and heading straight for his stomach. That action saved himself from contributing to the small crater that Hinata's foot made when it hit the arena tile. Sai retaliated by swinging his tanto at her feet only for the Hyuga to jump over the blade and do a front flip in the air before landing near Sai's head in a crouch already in motion to hit Sai with a palm strike. Sai rolled avoiding the strike and sent his sword towards Hinata's arm in retaliation. Only for it to slide off Hinata's chakra coated arm tearing a good chunk of the jacket's arm with it.

Hinata jumped back getting some distance allowing Sai to get to his feet as she looked at the torn sleeve. Looking at Sai with a steely gaze, she said "I normally don't care about my clothes like some stupid fan girl, but this was my favorite jacket." Sai's unemotional eyes stared at her before they widened slightly as Hinata's chakra peaked and the image of a transparent white tiger suddenly appeared beside her. The tiger roared and Hinata launched herself at Sai.

As Hinata began launching an assault that Sai was hard pressed to defend himself against, Naruto was chuckling to himself as he thought 'Looks like Hinata's discovered how to tap into her presence. Trust clothes to be a motivation for a girl. I guess I'll have to teach her how to use it properly.' Everyone else besides Team 8, the Whirlpool nin, and the Hokage were wondering just where the tiger had come from and why it had disappeared ten seconds after it appeared.

Sai meanwhile was beginning to sweat from defending himself from Hinata's attacks. Every time he thought he saw an opening and tried to take advantage of it, it turned out to only be a feint and he would barely get his blade into position in time to prevent the girl from getting a hit on his chest. He already had bruises on his arm from where he had been forced to block the girl's hits with flesh and he could feel his chakra fluctuating between acting like a faucet with a leak to a roaring river that was making his chakra circulation network strain with the rapid differences it was being forced to make. But then Hinata did something that made his fluctuating chakra take a back seat.

Sai had just tried to hit her with his tanto again when Hinata had grabbed the blade in a chakra coated hand and yanked Sai forward ruining his balance. Before Sai could stumble more than a step though, Hinata's right knee found residence in his stomach forcing him to exhale as his eyes widened at the loss of air. But before he could counter, Hinata spun on her left leg and slammed a glowing elbow into his back temporarily paralyzing him before she completed her spin and slammed an axe kick down onto his spine sending Sai into the floor harder than normal and leaving a small crater in the ground since she had put chakra into the kick.

As Sai tried to lift himself up with his arms, everyone watching began muttering as it became apparent that Sai couldn't use his lower body as he fell back down when his legs wouldn't listen to him. Hinata confirmed their suspicions as she said "Don't worry, I made sure not to permanently damage the spine, the paralysis will go away in a few minutes."

Naruto saw that there was no way Sai would be able to fight while partially paralyzed and said "Sai is unable to battle. Hinata is the winner."

"Yeah, you kick ass Hinata!"

Hinata blushed at Kiba's shout before she gave a slight wave and began walking toward the stairs while the medics came and began working on getting his temporary paralysis over as soon as possible. Up in the balconies, Neji frowned and thought 'It seems that fate was on her side this time. But it will leave her soon enough, and then I'll show her how weak she really is.' He saw Naruto's eyes flashed towards him as if the blond had heard his thoughts. The two kept locked gazes until Naruto broke it ten seconds later and sent chakra in the board's seal.

'Why do I feel like that particular Hyuga has a bigger stick up his ass than the others?' Naruto thought before he saw the board finish it's selection and said "Rico Uzumaki, Oboro, look alive genin." (Oboro is the member of Team Oboro with both eyes visible.)

Rico scowled at Naruto before he put a hand on the railing and jumped over while Oboro decided to take the stairs. As the redhead walked towards his blonde clan heir, Rico muttered under his breath "At least I didn't have to wait too long. But why did he have to be the proctor."

Everyone Jounin rank and above heard him and Naruto chuckled before he turned towards Oboro who was taking his time coming and was only half way down the stairs. Naruto frowned before he seemed to flicker. When he did, Oboro disappeared and reappeared a few inches off the ground with Naruto's hand holding his collar. Dropping the kid back to the ground, Naruto said "Lets go kid, there are a lot more matches after this, so stop keeping us waiting. Besides, it's rude to make your opponent wait longer than necessary."

Most of the other occupants of the room sweat dropped while Oboro seemed to send a dirty look at Naruto. They only had his two eyes to tell though since the rest of his face was completely covered. Naruto pointed to the spot in front of Rico and the teenager huffed before he stomped over to his spot. Naruto smirked before he got serious and said "Fifth round, begin!"

As soon as Naruto was clear, Rico's katars were out and Oboro was suddenly headless. Or at least his water clone was. As the clone broke apart leaving a puddle of water on the floor, Rico snorted and said "You know, we Uzumakis may be known as chakra monsters, but I can still tell when I've been put under a Genjutsu."

The Uzumaki's declaration was met with the sound of disembodied chuckling before copies of his opponent seemed to melt out of the floor with kunai in hand. Rico glanced around with a bored look on his face before he started sparking much to most of those who knew of the Uzumakis surprise.

"You know, back home I was called the Thunderstorm by my friends. Care to guess why?" Rico asked before the sparks surrounding his body suddenly turned into lightning bolts as they blasted the ten Oboros that surrounded him. As the clones once again turned into water, Rico said "It's because unlike my relatives who only have Water or Wind natures as their elements, I have Lightning as well. Now stop being a coward and get up here. Or would you rather I kill you underground?"

His answer was an arm coming up from underneath him with a kunai that tried to stab into his leg only for Rico to hook his leg around the blade and kick Oboro out of the ground, thus ending his opponent's Underwater Fish Projection jutsu and sending him crashing into the wall. (They really should have come up with a better name for that jutsu.) Rico took a moment to look at his slightly cut foot before he blurred through hand signs and said "Lightning style: Lightning Kunai Jutsu!"

Eight kunai of electricity formed in the air in front of Rico before he made a gesture with his hand and sent them flying at the stunned Oboro who was too slow to dodge the high speed projectiles and ended up pinned with two in each limb. Oboro screamed in pain as the electricity poured into his body before the kunai disappeared and he slumped forward unconscious. As Naruto appeared next to him, Rico scoffed and said "What a waste of time. Couldn't even handle a little static shock."

(AN: From this point forward, all matches were chosen randomly by my brother who knows nothing about Naruto. I really should have done this for the first few matches but I didn't think of it until now. So please don't criticize the list since this is as random as I can get.)

Naruto sighed at his distant relative before he pushed chakra into his seal again and the board began doing the only thing that gave meaning to its life. Naruto looked back when the board beeped and said "Sakura Haruno, Misumi Tsurugi, You two are next."

Walking over to the beginning spot, Naruto looked up at the Leaf balcony and noticed that Sakura seemed a little pale as she made her way down. Glancing to the other balcony showed her veiled opponent making his own way down in a somewhat cocky manner with an evil glint in his eyes. Once both were in front of him, Naruto said "Are both fighters ready." Misumi seemed to smirk behind his veil as he said "Of course." Sakura nervously swallowed before nodding. Naruto nodded as well as he raised his hand and said "Sixth round, Fight!"

Naruto jumped clear just as Sakura jumped back as well while sending a brace of shuriken towards Misumi. Misumi simply scoffed before he back handed the shuriken away with the metal plate sewn into his glove.

"Is that the best you've got?" Misumi asked.

Sakura bit her lip before throwing down a smoke bomb. The resulting smoke cloud blocked everyone's view of the kunoichi for a few seconds before four copies of the girl ran out trying to flank her opponent. Misumi though simply scoffed and said "Clones? Are you really so pathetic that you actually rely on those? Soft Physique Modification Jutsu!"

As Misumi finished calling out his jutsu's name, he threw his out in a horizontal swiping motion. The arm stretched before it went through the first three Sakuras on the left before slamming into the real Sakura and wrapped around her. Misumi yanked his arm back jerking Sakura towards him. As soon as she was close enough his other arm and legs wrapped around her body with the end result being one arm keeping her own arms pinned while his head was behind hers and his other arm around her neck with just enough pressure to make it hard to breath.

"I'm feeling merciful, so I'll give you one chance to yield before I snap your neck." Misumi said causing Sakura to shudder at the cold malice in her opponent's voice, cold malice which only further added to the cold fear that Sakura had in her due to the precarious position between life and death that she was in.

"I yield!" Sakura shouted. Misumi smirked and said "Smart girl." The next instant Sakura was free and had her hands at her neck while she took in deep breaths trying to calm her racing heart while Naruto declared Misumi the winner. As Sakura shakily made her way back to the Leaf balcony with Misumi walking smugly ahead of her, Naruto had the board start cycling through names again. Hearing the beep, he turned and announced the next fighters.

"Reina Uzumaki, Kin Tsuchi. Will you please come down."

The two kunoichi made their way down. Once they were facing each other, Reina looked at her opponent coolly while Kin had a smirk on her face that practically screamed I'm going to make you weep and enjoy every minute of it. Naruto looked between the two before he rose his hand and said "Are you two ready?" Getting nods from both, he slashed his hand down and said "Fight!"

As soon as Naruto was clear Kin launched senbon needles at Reina who crouched for a split second before she launched herself upwards in a chakra laced jump allowing the needles to pass harmlessly past her. Reina continued upwards before flipping and sticking herself to the ceiling. Kin looked up and shouted "What's wrong scaredy cat? Afraid to fight me?"

Reina cocked an eyebrow at her opponent as she said "Not really, I just don't want to be in range of those Genjutsu bells you have on your senbon."

Kin's jaw dropped before she shouted "How do you know about those?"

Reina smirked and said "Because you told me about them when you fought that leaf team to get your second scroll. For a group who claim to know everything about sound, you Sound nin really need to work on your awareness skills. Me and my team saw the whole fight. Which is how I know that your needles need to be at a certain range of the target to work properly. The worst you can do to me while I'm up here is have blurred vision, and that doesn't really matter since I have jutsu that don't need extreme accuracy to work."

Kin glared and said "Well all I'm hearing is a scared dog barking to cover up for its lack of bite!"

Reina smirked before her hands blurred as she went through a chain of hand signs. Ending on the common hand sign for water jutsu Reina said "Well all I'M hearing is a second rate kunoichi trying to talk big. Water Style: Condensation Jutsu!" The air shimmered as the humidity sky rocketed causing vapor like mists to form before the mists grew until they merged together to form a slightly dense fog. With her source of water secured, Reina ran through more hand signs before she called out "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" shocking most of the Jounin present with her ability to use such a high level jutsu and with fewer hand signs that was normally required no less. Tsunami however smirked and thought 'That's my girl. Show them why you're the best Water Style user of your generation.'

Meanwhile, as Tsunami was mentally complementing her niece, the fog in the air compressed before it formed a massive water dragon that sucked all of the moisture from the air as it formed. Once fully formed, yellow eyes seemed to snap open as they appeared before they glared at Kin and let out a roar that caused the room to vibrate and dust to fall from the ceiling. Kin paled before she threw two senbon with exploding notes attached at the dragon. Said dragon simply opened its mouth before swallowing the needles. The exploding notes detonated causing the dragon's form to briefly swell before it returned to it original slim shape. Kin paled even more as the dragon seemed to give an evil chuckle before Reina made a hand gesture and the dragon launched itself at Kin. The impact sent a large dust cloud into the air. When it cleared, it showed an unconscious Kin lying in a large puddle, badly bruised and with all four limbs at terribly unnatural angles. The girl was lucky to have not broken her neck.

Naruto took one look at the girl before he said "Reina Uzumaki is the winner. Medics!"

'These Whirlpool nin definitely don't mess around. I'm glad we're still allies with them.' Sarutobi thought as he pulled the brim of his hat down to cover his eyes for a moment as he began thinking about a new treaty for anymore returning Uzumakis.

Reina meanwhile dropped down to the floor and landed in a crouch as the white coated medics rushed past her to asses just how badly she had pummeled her opponent. Reina gave a respectful nod to her clan-heir before she turned and walked to the balcony and rejoined her team. As soon as the medics had carted Kin off the floor, Naruto once again began the process of choosing the next fighters. The board beeped and Naruto said "Zaku Abumi, Kagari. You two are next."

As the two foreigners made their way down, Naruto frowned at the Sound nin, or at his arms which were both in slings to be more specific. 'He's actually planning on fighting? I could understand him not forfeiting before the prelims just so he could watch the fights but to actually fight without both arms? This boy is either cocky or faking.' He shook those thoughts from his head as the two shinobi settled in front of him.

Kagari eyed his opponent's arms and sneered as he said 'You must be really confident in yourself. Do you actually expect to fight me with no arms?"

Zaku smirked before his left arm began to shift and he pulled it out enjoying the look of surprise most of the genin had on their faces. "Well what do you know? It seems I can use one of my arms. This should be more than enough to deal with you." Zaku said as his smirk turned evil.

Naruto mentally sighed before he said "If you two are done talking macho then, begin!" Naruto slashed his arm down and jumped back. The two fighters glared at him for a moment before they shifted focus on each other. Kagari gave an evil chuckle before he began sinking into the ground at a rapid pace. The moment his head disappeared it seemed to shoot right back up along with copies of him that surrounded Zaku in a ten man ring. Zaku scoffed at the ring of Kagaris and said "Looks like you're as cowardly as your team mate, not that it matters. Decapitating Wave!"

Zaku swung his body around a full three hundred and sixty degrees as air blasted out of the tube in his arm blasting apart all of the clones in one move. He smirked but the smirk quickly left his face as twice as many clones sprung out of the ground. Zaku tsked before he repeated his last maneuver blasting all of the clones as they tried to hit him again.

This cycle repeated itself for five minutes becoming redundant, with the only changes being the number of clones sent up and Zaku at some point having brought his right arm out of the sling. And as everybody knows, redundancy breeds boredom. Naruto sighed as another wave of clones was wiped out by a slightly panting Zaku and thought 'This match is nothing more than a battle of attrition to see who has the most chakra. I'm half tempted to just call it a draw and move to the next fight.' Two things stopped him from doing just that. One was a small hand gesture from his Kage that told him to let things run through. Why the old man wanted that was beyond him although he personally thought it was to stall the inevitable paperwork back on the old man's desk. Second was the fact that both shinobi's chakra was quickly nearing their limits, meaning that the fight would probably be over in another minute or two. True to his suspicions, that limit was reached by both a minute later. A panting Zaku dropped to his knees before his face met concrete as he fell forward. Two seconds later all of the clones around him burst as the real Kagari slowly emerged from the ground looking just as exhausted.

"Heh, I won. Take that you Sound idiot." Kagari said before he too fell flat on his face earning sweat drops from most of the genin at how pointless the entire fight seemed.

Naruto sighed and said "Since neither of the two combatants can battle, this is a draw. Neither will continue to the third exam. Now that we have that waste of six minutes done, lets see who's fighting next."

The medics hoisted the two shinobi off while the board went through its routine again before landing on two names. When the board beeped Naruto looked over his shoulder and said "Yoroi Akado, Temari of the Desert. You're up."

As the fighting kunoichi turned to walk down from her spot next to her team, her youngest brother said "Temari." When he knew he had her attention, he continued "Don't take too long beating him. I've already spent too long waiting." Temari swallowed before nodding as she turned and walked down the stairs.

The two fighters met in front of Naruto who looked between the two as he said "Fighters ready?" Two nods was his answer so he raised his hand as he said "Then ninth round Start!" Naruto's hand slashed down and he jumped clear just as Yoroi rushed his opponent with his hands glowing. Temari didn't give him a chance to make contact though as she whipped her war fan off her back and slammed the end of it into the side of Yoroi's head sending him flying. Yoroi rolled along the ground before he shakily got back up. But before he could fully orient himself, Temari flicked her fan open and blasted him with a wind jutsu as she called out "Great Sickle Weasel Technique!"

The burst of wind seemed to form sickles inside it before it slammed into Yoroi who screamed in pain before the wind died down and his eyes rolled to the back of his head as he fell face down bleeding from over a hundred cuts. Naruto didn't have to check to know that the fight was over. Pointing to Temari he said "Winner, Temari. Medics."

'Another one who doesn't mess around.' The Jounin thought. Unknown to the blond, most of the other Jounin and the Hokage were thinking the same thing as medics rushed over and began checking Yoroi. Temari meanwhile smirked and walked back to the balcony. Naruto gave them a chance to get the poor sod out of the area before he pulsed chakra into his seal. Hearing the beep from the board, Naruto turned his head and his eyebrow rose as he thought 'Talk about coincidences.' Turning his head back forward, he said "Kankuro of the Desert, Neji Hyuga. Will you two please come down."

The two made their way down and Naruto had trouble figuring out which one seemed to be the more cocky of the two. When they were both in front of him, Kankuro took off the mummified figure from his back and slammed it into the ground next to him as he said "This shouldn't take too long." Neji smirked and said "I agree. Fate has decreed that I shall win." Kankuro gained a tick mark over his right eyebrow. But before the one-with-makeup could retort, Naruto sighed and said "Since you two seem ready to go, Tenth Round Start!"

As Naruto jumped away, Neji activated his Byakugan and smirked as he said "Do you really plan on fighting me while you can't see anything?" All of the genin wondered what he was talking about before the wrapped bundle came undone and everyone saw another Kankuro appear. Looking at Neji with a raised eyebrow, the second Kankuro said "Well I guess there's no need to keep up the charade. But you're going to wish you had." The first Kankuro shimmered before it turned into a battle puppet which rattled before it launched itself at Neji. Neji frowned before he began dodging the various blades that unfolded from the puppet's body. Catching sight of the poison on the blades only confirmed Neji's opinion that he didn't want to get cut by them. Kankuro smirked thinking he had his opponent completely on the defensive. Neji however was keeping half his attention on the puppet itself while focusing the other half on where Kankuro's chakra strings were connected to the puppet. He had to make sure he knew exactly where each one was when he made his move. Ten seconds later, Neji stopped dodging and began hitting the puppet whit hard palm strikes. Kankuro scoffed and was about to ask what good that did when the areas Neji hit exploded into wood chips as Neji applied one of the principles of tree climbing. Namely the fact that if you put too much chakra into what you try to stick to, that thing explodes from the chakra overload.

Kankuro stared in horror as his puppet fell to the ground in pieces. Neji's attack had blasted straight through the wood where Kankuro's chakra strings had been attached from the back. Without any wood for the strings to attach to the puppet had fallen like the puppet whose strings had been cut it was. There was barely anything left of the arms and legs for Kankuro to send chakra strings to, not that Neji would let him since the Hyuga was now standing between him and his beloved puppet smirking at him.

"I would forfeit if I were you. Fate has decreed that I shall win here and you are already at a disadvantage."

Kankuro scowled before he reached into the pouch on his waist and pulled out what looked like a custom made kunai that had a sheath on it that Kankuro pulled off and stuck back in his pouch. What made it look custom was the fact that the handle had no ring at its end and was slightly thicker than usual. The slight glistening of liquid on the now exposed blade gave everyone a clue as to why the handle was thicker, it was obviously to store a liquid of some kind that could soak the kunai's blade. Kankuro flipped the kunai in his hand so that it was in a reverse grip and took a ready stance.

Neji closed his eyes and shook his head as he said "Do you really think you stand a chance with that? What a fool." Neji's eyes snapped open before he rushed Kankuro's position ready to teach the Sand nin that you shouldn't use a knife when fighting a Hyuga, but a four and a half foot long claymore instead. As soon as he was in range Kankuro swung his blade hoping to at the very least nick his opponent and at the very most take his pound of flesh. In a move similar to what his cousin did during her fight, Neji coated his arm with condensed chakra deflected the attack by pushing on the flat of the blade before he smirked and said "You're in my range. Gentle Fist Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms!"

Neji let loose a fierce barrage of palm strikes causing Kankuro to yell in pain before he deactivated his Byakugan and took a step back. Kankuro groaned before he fell sideways and crashed onto the ground. Neji turned and started walking away as he said "Proctor call the match. He isn't getting back up on his own."

Naruto sent a quick pulse of chakra out and when he saw the puppeteer's chakra network had to agree. It was barely registering as resisting Naruto's pulse which was how Naruto registered how much chakra an opponent had when he formed his fields of chakra. Add to the fact that it felt like the human body's second circulatory system felt like it was broken into several pieces, Naruto had to acknowledge Neji's claim. Naruto quickly declared Neji the winner before gesturing to the medics who rushed over and quickly began working on restoring Kankuro's chakra network to what it should be even as they moved him off the floor. One of the medics thoughtfully sealed Kankuro's busted puppet before joining his comrades as they carried the puppeteer off in a stretcher. Once the floor was clear, Naruto set the board back to work and called out its next selection.

"Kiba Inuzuka, Rock Lee. Will you two please come down."

"Yosh! I finally get to show everyone my flames of youth!" Lee said as he hopped over the railing and practically jogged over to Naruto earning sweat drops from almost everyone but his sensei who seemed to be encouraging his student's behavior.

"I have to fight that guy?" Kiba asked before he sighed and took the stairs like a normal person. (The people who also had jumped the rail before his fight didn't count since they were at the end of the balcony and so were farther from the stair case than he was.) As Kiba made his way down at a reasonable pace, Lee began bouncing on his heels and then stretching and then switching back to bouncing on his heels numerous times earning even more sweat drops from the other 'normal' people. (Seriously, is there really a normal shinobi out there?)

When Kiba joined the other two on the floor, Naruto raised his hand and said "Fighters ready?" Getting a nod from Kiba as his partner Akamaru jumped off his head and an excited "Yosh!' from Lee, Naruto dropped his hand and jumped back as he said "Eleventh Round Start!"

As soon as the words were out of the proctor's mouth, Lee blurred straight at Kiba and hit him with a punch to the chest so strong it sent Kiba a foot into the wall behind the dog user. Akamaru barked and rushed to Kiba's form and whined as he tried to pull out his master by grabbing one of his pant legs in his teeth. Lee's eyes bugged out at the sight of the unconscious Inuzuka as he said "Ah, my flames of youth snuffed out my opponent's!' Everyone sweat dropped again before Naruto cleared his throat and said "Winner Lee. Medics."

The medics took a few minutes to get Kiba's body out of the wall before they carted him off. Everyone winced at the blood that was visible as it stained the back of his coat and wondered how in the world he survived such an impact. (What can I say, I like most of the Rookie 9 too much to kill them so heartlessly.) Once the wall was Kiba free and the medics had retreated, Naruto activated the seal and the board began going through names. Once it had its selection, Naruto said "Shikamaru Nara, Airon Rokku. You guys are up."

Naruto flickered before reappearing with Shikamaru beside him. Shikamaru shook his head before glaring at Naruto who simply rose an eyebrow before turning to the second fighter who got the message and walked just a little bit faster to the stairs. Said shinobi was a little taller than Shikamaru and like his team mate seemed to prefer Taijutsu. Once both were in front of him Naruto said "Fighters ready?' Airon nodded while Shikamaru gave a muttered Troublesome before nodding. Naruto slashed his hand down as he said "Fight!"

Airon didn't waste anytime getting clear of Shikamaru's expanding shadow as it rushed towards him. As he took a giant leap back and to his right he saw that Shikamaru's lazy look had been traded for one of determination. Landing and taking another jump back Airon said "You know, I hate Naras. Even though they're lazy asses off the battle field you can always expect them to come up with some plan and/or do something that will screw you over if you have to fight them."

Shikamaru gave a noncommittal grunt before his shadow shot past where his opponent had been after his first jump and connected with the shadow from the foreign side balcony. The combined shadow then surged towards Airon who cursed and jumped away saying "See, that's what I'm talking about!" Shikamaru's lips twitched before the shadow continued its path and connected with the balcony on the other side of the room. Airon looked at the two groups of shadows that began to quiver as they began stretching towards him encircling the Iwa shinobi.

A panting Shikamaru smirked at his opponent and said "I suggest you forfeit before I make you do something that would be terribly embarrassing."

Airon looked around him at the wide circle of shadows that surrounded him and considered his options, which sadly were few in number. He could either try and jump to the ceiling and hope that the shadows couldn't connect to his while he was up there. He could allow the shadows to connect to him and be seriously embarrassed. Or he could keep most of his dignity by forfeiting. Raising his hand, Airon said "I forfeit."

Naruto shrugged and said "Airon forfeits so Shikamaru wins." The shadows shot back to the balconies as Shikamaru tiredly walked back to the Leaf balcony. When he reached his team Chouji handed him a bag and he took a pill out of it while thanking him. Naruto meanwhile started the selection process for the next fight causing the board to start cycling through names. It gave its selection a lot faster now that it only had six more names to go through and Naruto called out "Will Kabuto Yakushi and Chouji Akimichi please come down."

"He doesn't look too bad. At least I won't be knocked into the wall." Chouji said, glad that he wouldn't have to fight someone like Lee or the last Sand nin who looked really scary. A hand clapping itself on his shoulder drew his attention to Asuma who smiled and said "Hey Chouji, if you win, I'll take you to that new bar-be-que restaurant for an all you can eat."

Chouji's eyes widened before they filled with determination as he turned and began marching toward the stairs while his team mates commented on how low it was to bribe Chouji with food like that. Kabuto meanwhile simply pushed his glasses further up his nose as he walked down the stairs. As the two met in front of Naruto, Chouji glared at Kabuto and said "I'm going to beat you, the meat demands it." As Kabuto gave his opponent an amused look, everyone else sweat dropped as Naruto thought 'Great, an Akimichi who actually believes his food is a deity.' Shaking that thought from his head he said "Combatants ready?" Getting two nods in response, Naruto raised his hand before he slashed it down and said "Start!"

As soon as Naruto was clear Chouji roared before his arm expanded and he launched a punch at Kabuto who simply smiled before he jumped over the punch and landed on Chouji's arm. Running up the arm, Kabuto reached Chouji's face in seconds and kicked Chouji forcing his head back as Chouji stumbled back. Kabuto landed on the floor before he crouched low and swept Chouji's feet from out under him. As soon as Chouji hit the floor he had a kunai at his neck. He followed the hand that held the blade to see Kabuto's smiling face looking down at him.

"I would yield if I were you. You are at a disadvantage fighting someone whose trained to be able to avoid any attacks." Kabuto said. Chouji swallowed before he rose his hand and said "I forfeit."

"Chouji has forfeited, Therefore Kabuto is the winner." Naruto said. Kabuto quickly put his kunai away before he held a hand out to Chouji who hesitated for a moment before he accepted the help and was hoisted to his feet. As Chouji walked back to the balcony with his head down and Kabuto walked away without making a scene, Naruto used the seal and started the board again. It took thirty seconds before it beeped out the second to last pair of fighters and Naruto called out "Dosu Kinuta, Gaara of the Desert. You two are next."

A whirlwind of sand appeared in front of Naruto. When it died down Gaara was in its place. The redhead glared at Dosu who seemed to be taking his time coming down. Once he joined the two Jinchuriki Naruto said "Fighters ready?"

"Yes. Get on with it." Gaara said as Killing Intent began to slowly but surely fill the room. Dosu nodded as well and Naruto began the match before disappearing and reappearing beside his leader. The two would most likely die before they told anyone, but both were glad that it was a Sound nin fighting the foreign Jinchuriki. The contact Jiraiya had talked to before coming back to the Leaf village with its own Jinchuriki had told him that Orochimaru had ties to the Sound village. In their minds, anyone who had connections to that scumbag was welcome to fight the Sand Jinchuriki since that meant none of their people had to.

As the two were mentally thanking the electronic board for not choosing an allied shinobi to fight the unstable Jinchuriki, Gaara had been busy. As soon as Naruto had disappeared, his sand blasted out of his gourd and rushed Dosu who had rapidly retreated. As soon as Dosu dodged the first stream of sand he flicked the melody gauntlet on his right arm sending sound waves out which he directed at Gaara. Gaara's left hand suddenly clapped against his ear. His eyes narrowed at his opponent before the cool gaze turned into a glare and the sand that was hovering around him all shot forward a second time.

Dosu tried to jump away a second time but the sand formed into the shape of a hand which back handed the mummified figure sending him rolling across the floor. As soon as Dosu's figure had stopped rolling the same hand of sand grabbed his right leg and lifted him into the air before it began swinging around in a circle. It did this for five cycles before the hand slammed Dosu's body back down onto the floor cracking the concrete.

As Dosu tried to get the cobwebs out of his head, more sand joined the hand and began covering him with it. As Dosu's body became fully covered by sand it lifted him up until his body was floating a few feet above the ground. Gaara meanwhile had a hand held out as he said "Pathetic. Desert Coffin."

The sand coffin imploded crushing everything in its grasp. Or it would have if there was anything in it. Gaara's eyes widened the smallest fraction as he saw the coffin do its job without spilling any blood. They widened further when the sand dispersed and Naruto was revealed with an unconscious Dosu being held by the collar of his shirt and wind swirling around the two in a small vortex that was spinning lazily.

"Dosu is unable to fight anymore. Therefore Gaara is the winner." Naruto said as he gestured to the medics to take the unconscious Sound nin from him. He may have preferred a Sound nin fighting the Jinchuriki but that didn't mean he would let one of the fighters die if he could help it.

Gaara's eyes narrowed before he growled out "You shall not interfere. I will prove my existence." Gaara's sand reared up before lashing out at the blond like a cobra. Naruto's own eyes narrowed before the lazy vortex turned fierce as the wind circled around Naruto one more time before it rushed the sand and blasted it apart into a thin cloud of floating silicone. Naruto then disappeared before he reappeared on Gaara's right side holding his right hand towards the redhead as he said "Wind Style: Wind Prison Jutsu."

As the calm words left the blonde's mouth, the air in the room turned into wind a second time and converged on Gaara's location. Within a second the redhead was trapped in a sphere of wind which lifted him up a foot in the air. As Gaara's sand rushed towards the blond in retaliation, Naruto brought his left hand up under his outstretched right arm and blasted the sand away with a seal less Gale Palm. The wind blasted the sand back while simply ruffling the approaching medics' coats. Turning his attention back to his prisoner, Naruto said "This fight is over Genin. Now stand down before I siphon all of the air out of your lungs." The blond was only planning on knocking out the redhead but he didn't need to know that.

Gaara glared at the blond and for a moment the blond thought he would have to carry out his threat. Then the sand dropped down on the floor. Naruto kept the prison up for a moment longer before he cut the chakra flow from the jutsu causing the wind to disperse and drop the redhead back to the floor. Naruto walked back to his starting position as the sand rushed back to the redhead who glared at the blond for a moment before he too turned and walked to the balcony ignoring the medics who had by that time grabbed Dosu and walked out of the doors. Naruto waited until Gaara was walking up the stairs before he said "Mubi, Tenten. Get down here you two."

As the last two contestants made their way down Naruto mentally thanked the Log that the prelims were almost over. It had been stressful enough worrying about what Orochimaru was doing. He didn't need the additional stress that came from these fifteen matches. Naruto shook his head free of thoughts of night patrols of the village and its surrounding areas to try and find the traitorous bastard when the last two fighters positioned themselves in front of him. Looking at the two he said "Are you two ready?" Getting two nods as a response, Naruto rose his hand and said "Then let the final preliminary round, Start!" Chopping down his hand and jumping back Naruto watched as Mubi tried to sink into the ground only for Tenten to rush forward and slam a foot into his face sending him flying as she shouted "Dynamic Entry!"

Tenten rushed to his fallen form and kicked him in the stomach sending him up into the air. As soon as he was high enough Tenten slammed a chakra coated fist into his ribs. Everyone winced as they heard at least one rib break and Mubi screamed in pain. As he fell back onto the floor again Tenten pushed chakra into a small seal on her right hand causing a ninjato to puff into existence. Tenten swung the ninjato at the downed Rain ninja and a large but superficial cut appeared across his stomach. Not letting up, Tenten unsealed a tanto from the seal on her left hand and slashed into a rising Mubi's right arm. Mubi gritted his teeth to keep from screaming again and tried to lash out with a kunai only for Tenten to slap the smaller blade out of her opponent's hands with the tanto before she stabbed her ninjato into his left shoulder. Before Mubi even had a chance to scream she twisted the blade so that it was horizontal and ripped it out of his shoulder in a horizontal swing making that arm useless. Mubi had no time to worry about that though as the tanto was moving to take off his head. A sharp clanging sound filled the air as the flat side of a kunai held in a reverse grip intercepted the blade. Tenten jumped slightly as Naruto appeared beside Mubi and blocked her swing a mere inch from taking off her opponent's head.

"I've seen enough. Winner: Tenten."

Mubi slumped as Tenten took a step back and Naruto lowered his kunai. To her it seemed ridiculous that the proctor had stepped in like he did. Saving someone from that scary Sand nin was one thing, but him stepping in like that for her fight just felt wrong. She wasn't going to actually decapitate her opponent. Just cut into the neck a little. She had her blade angled so it would avoid the main arteries and veins so he wouldn't have bled to death.

She was brought out of those thoughts as Naruto looked at the two balconies and said "Well everyone who has won their fights please come down. We are about to chose the fights for the final rounds next month."

Naruto walked over to where the Hokage and his entourage had retaken their spots in front of the Ram statue and was joined a minute later by all of the winners sans Sasuke. Turning around to face them, Naruto pointed the thumb of his right hand over his shoulder at Anko who held a box in her hands as he said "We'll now decide the Third Exam's lineup. Anko here is going to come to each of you. You will take one paper and only one paper from the box as she reaches you. Anko, if you'd please."

Anko quickly walked the line allowing everyone to get a slip of paper. When she was done, Naruto said "On your paper you will find a number. Starting on my right going to my left call out your numbers." The Genin did as told starting with the Sand team.

Gaara: 14

Temari: 9

Hinata: 1

Shino: 3

Neji: 2

Lee: 6

Tenten: 10

Rico: 4

Reina: 7

Rachel: 12

Misumi: 5

Kabuto: 11

Shikamaru: 8

As the genin called out their numbers Ibiki wrote them down on his clipboard. Once everyone was finished he said "That leaves the Uchiha kid with 13." Taking the paper off of the clipboard the head of I&T handed it to Naruto who flipped it in his hands so that the genin could see it and said "This will be the match up for the finals that are to be held in one month. Hinata Hyuga will fight Neji Hyuga in the first round. That fight will be followed by Shino Aburame vs. Rico Uzumaki. After that is Misumi Tsurugi vs. Rock Lee. Next round will be Reina Uzumaki against Shikamaru Nara. Then we have Temari of the Desert vs. Tenten. The second to last match will be Kabuto Yakushi against Rachel Aliston. And finally, the final match will be Sasuke Uchiha vs. Gaara of the Desert. Winners of these matches will fight the winner of the match after theirs until there is only one winner. Know that while the final exam will take place as a tournament that that does not mean only one of you can become Chunin. It just means that that person had more chances to show the judges why he or she deserves to be Chunin. You could all earn that rank or none of you could be promoted. This is a chance to show our judges and everyone else that you have what it takes to climb the ladder. You have one month to prepare. I suggest you do so and in a month's time make all of us proud to have you alongside us in the ranks of shinobi. Dismissed."


	14. Presence Of My Soul

14. Presence Of My Soul

AN: As promised, here's the next chapter. Just a forewarning here, I do not own Raven's emotclones. I just really like the idea.

Story Start: Preliminary Rounds End

"Dismissed."

At the end of Naruto's little speech the Genin broke apart their line and began walking towards their Jounin sensei. Most had thoughts of how they would fight their opponents in a month while a select few were relishing the fact that they were fighting who they were. Naruto meanwhile watched Hinata walk away with a thoughtful look on his face.

"Ryo for your thoughts."

Naruto looked to his right where his village leader was now standing beside him with his trusty pipe already smoking. Naruto looked back at Hinata who was currently walking to the double doors with Kurenai and Shino. Sighing, Naruto said "Old Man, is it wrong that I feel like I should be the one to train Hinata this month?"

Sarutobi rose an eyebrow as he looked at his fastest Jounin and said "Does this have anything to do with that presence she displayed during her match?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Partly. But that's only part of the reason. But for the life of me I can't figure out the other part."

Sarutobi chuckled and thought to himself 'Seems Naruto is a bit attracted with our young Hyuga heir. Whether that attraction will turn into something else is yet to be seen.' "Well I'm sure that we could arrange for that although it might be hard convincing her father to allow it. But I'm sure he'll agree when I tell him why you want to train her. After all, being able to use you're presence in battle is a very rare skill."

Naruto shot an incredulous look at his leader and said "But isn't that against the rules though? I mean that would be a conflict of interest wouldn't it?"

Sarutobi chuckled again and said "You let me worry about that. You just worry about what you're going to teach her for this month. I will let you know when I'm successful." Doing a one-eighty and switching into his leader persona, he continued as he said "I want you to find Jiraiya sometime this week and tell him I want you to sign the toad contract. I've told him to expect you. If Sand's Jinchuriki does use the One Tail's power during the finals and the Five Pronged Seal doesn't work for whatever reason you'll have a way to combat it's full possession mode."

Naruto nodded his head and disappeared. Sarutobi sighed and said "Now it's back to that dreadful paperwork." Giving another sigh the old shinobi disappeared in a whirlwind of leaves.

Scene Change: Waterfall 15

Naruto reappeared at Waterfall 15, a training ground that was further from the village than all of the other training grounds, including the other fourteen waterfall training grounds. They were called as such due to the waterfall in each one with 1 the closest to the village. People rarely used them which was precisely why Naruto had asked his partner to meet him here. Naruto took one glance at the waterfall at the end of the clearing where he could hear girls squealing at the bottom of the falls beneath their elevation wondering who had the stamina to actually hike that far before he turned to where his partner was currently locked in battle with ten water clones that kept forming ice mirrors every other minute to attack the original from every angle.

As Haku dodged a rather large ice spear that shot out of a mirror he saw his partner walking toward the fight and dismissed his clones causing all of them to burst into water and their jutsu to dissipate. Walking out of the large ring of puddles that action caused, Haku smiled and said "You wanted to see me Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and said "Yeah, I think it's time we worked on taking your crystal ice mirrors to the next stage."

Haku cocked his head and said "What do you mean?"

Naruto gestured at the puddles where Haku's water clones had made ice mirrors and said "You can make a dome of mirrors to surround a small number of opponents. You can also make a single pair of mirrors that are far apart to cover long distances faster. I think it's time we worked on merging those two methods so that you can take on larger groups of people in a bigger area."

Haku nodded in understanding before he switched topics and said "So how did the preliminaries go?"

Naruto shrugged and said "As well as can be expected. All three of Aunt Tsunami's team made it through. And somehow or another the Old Man has made me responsible for training Hinata for this month when she showed she could form a semi-corporal presence."

Haku's eyebrow rose as he said "Wouldn't that be a conflict of interest?"

Naruto's lips quirked upwards as he said "I asked him that exact same thing. He told me to let him worry about that. Also, he told me to find Jiraiya again so that I can sign the toad contract. I plan on doing that tomorrow. I'll probably bring both him and Hinata here so that way we have some privacy while we train."

Haku nodded before a thoughtful look passed through his eyes as he said "Just out of curiosity Naruto, what did Hinata's presence feel like?"

Naruto actually smirked this time as he said "Look like, not feel like. She manifested a transparent image of a white tiger for ten seconds."

Haku's eyes widened as she said "She has an actual physical presence? Not just something that's effects are physical around the person's body?"

Naruto nodded and said "So it seems. Although we will have to see if it can actually cause physical damage or if it's just limited to a great distraction when I show her how to draw it out and keep it up during an actual fight."

"Naruto, this could be really big. Zabuza told me that as far as he knew, presences were used only for mental intimidation. According to him, no one has ever been able to make an actual physical presence that could physically harm their opponents."

Naruto's face sprouted a fox like grin as he said "Well if we're right, then Hinata's going to revolutionize presence manipulation."

Scene Change: Hokage's Office: 8:00 am

Hinata resisted the urge to fidget as she stood beside her father wondering why they were here. The two were currently standing in front of the Hokage's desk. The person behind said desk had a smirk on his face since he knew that even though he would never show it, Hiashi was extremely annoyed at how Sarutobi had convinced him to allow this to happen. He didn't care if Hinata showed extreme amounts of potential to use her presence, the task of a Hyuga being trained to fight another Hyuga for a month should be kept inside the clan, not given to an outsider. Hiashi tried to ignore the fact that only Uzumaki and possibly the foreign Uzumaki Jounin sensei could use said presences but that just made him even more annoyed that none of the other Hyugas seemed to have what it took to use the skill.

Mrs. Reinas voice filtered through the intercom making Hinata jump slightly as she said "Sir, Jounin Uzumaki is here saying that he has an appointment with you."

Sarutobi nodded to himself as he pushed the send button on his intercom and said "Thank you, please send him in."

The secretary gave an affirmative before the door opened and Naruto walked in. As soon as the door was closed he found Hiashi in front of him. Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Can I help you lord Hiashi?"

Hiashi's eyes narrowed the slightest millimeter as he said "There is actually. I do not appreciate outsiders messing with clan business. The only reason why I have agreed to this is the fact that none of my clansmen can do what Hinata apparently can and you can teach her how to control it. But make no mistake, if I find out anything happens to her then there will be consequences. Am I understood?"

"Perfectly. Now if you'll please excuse me." Naruto said before he sidestepped the clan leader and pulled out a scroll from his Jounin vest and put it on his leader's desk as he said "Here are the files on the Land of Tea from the Daimyo you needed sir. He's expecting a message about why you wanted them so quickly."

Hiashi's teeth gritted slightly at the perceived slight against him but simply walked out of the door as Sarutobi thanked his Jounin. Hinata meanwhile allowed her confusion to show on her face as soon as her father was out of the room. Twiddling her fingers as an old habit she thought she had gotten rid of, she asked, "Um, excuse me Lord Hokage?"

Sarutobi looked up from the unsealed documents and smiled at Hinata and said "Yes Hinata?"

Hinata's fingers began fidgeting more as she said "Why am I here? Father wouldn't tell me. He simply told me that he expected nothing but success from me." Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "So he just dragged you here without telling you anything? Yeesh, talk about being tight lipped."

Sarutobi gave a half grunt half chuckle in agreement before he said "The reason why you are here Hinata is because Naruto will be training you for the month before the Chunin Exams Finals."

Instead of clearing things up, the Hokage's statement seemed to only make her confusion grow as she asked "Why would Naruto train me?"

"Because during your match you showed that you could access your soul's presence. I plan on making it so that that wasn't a once in a lifetime thing. But it's not just presence training that I'll give you. I plan on giving your speed an extreme boost and help you tweak the Gentle Fist style so that it fits you better." Naruto said.

Hinata blinked before her face scrunched up as she tried to think of when she could have possibly used her presence. As she remembered yesterday's preliminaries, specifically her fight, she remembers hearing a roar beside her that she had ignored since she had been so angry at Sai for ruining her favorite coat. Hinata's eyes opened to see a smirking Naruto who said "Do you remember now?"

"I-I think so." Hinata said stuttering since she wasn't sure what that roar was.

Naruto nodded and walked towards the door as he said "Well then, lets go. There's one more person we need to find before we can head to Waterfall 15 to begin training."

Scene Change: Village Hot Springs

Hinata had followed Naruto through the streets of the village until they had reached the hot springs. Hinata wondered why they were here but kept her questions to herself as her superior walked right past the entrances to the different sides of the springs and instead began walking along the fence that surrounded the female side. Hinata followed although she began wondering if Naruto was actually a peeping tom. Before those thoughts could take hold in her head though, she heard Naruto say "There he is."

Before she could ask where who was she heard perverted giggling coming from a group of nearby bushes. As the two stopped about five feet from the bushes, Naruto raised a finger to his lips in the universal sign for be quiet before he reached into his kunai pouch and withdrew a weird kunai. The kunai was weird in the fact that the blade had the halves of another kunai blade wielded on each of it's sides making the blade look like a giant Phillip's head screwdriver.

Before Hinata could study the blade for more than a moment, Naruto took out a piece of paper and a pen and quickly jotted something down before he attached it to the ring of the strange kunai and then briefly joined the slipstream. A millisecond later, Hinata heard Naruto's voice say "Thousand Years of Death: Kunai Version." A loud yell of pain followed as a fifty year old male with long white hair was sent flying out of the bushes holding his rear end before he went over the wall and landed in the water with a splash.

Hinata stared at Naruto who walked out of the bushes as another scream, this one far more girly sounded from the other side of the fence along with the sound of a lot of angry females punishing a pervert. Naruto gave a chuckle at the look on Hinata's face and said "Don't worry, he'll be fine. Now let's go, he'll know where to find us." The next thing Hinata knew, she was in a clearing with a river flowing past that ended in a waterfall. Shaking her head as her brain tried to comprehend the sudden change of scenery, her attention was quickly brought to in front of her again as she heard a familiar voice say "Hello Hinata-san. How are you this morning?"

Hinata's eyes snapped over to see Haku walking towards her and Naruto. She smiled and said "Hello Haku-san." Hinata's eyes were then drawn to Haku's shoulder when a flash of light shone. Seeing the flash as well, Naruto looked and saw a sword made completely out of ice on her shoulder glistening in the sun that had just come out of the clouds. The sword was bent two thirds along the blade with what looked like a weighted tip at the end.

Naruto smirked at his partner as he said "I thought we were supposed to be working on your Crystal Ice Mirror jutsu Haku, so why do you have a sword? Better yet, why do you have a kilij?"

Haku smiled and said "My clone was working on manifesting my ice in different ways and made this." Before Naruto could comment further on that, he felt a whirlwind of leaves appear behind him before it died down revealing a pissed Toad Sage who was currently glaring at Naruto's back.

"Care to explain to me why you shoved a four sided kunai into my ass?" Jiraiya growled out as killing intent began filling the air making Hinata gulp.

"I believe I had told you the last time I caught you peeking on women in the bath houses that the next time I did I would use Uncle Kakashi's jutsu on you with my own little twist to it. You knew due to the current situation with the foreign Jinchuriki in the village that I would eventually be ordered to come find you so that you can teach me to summon. Therefore you should have waited until you were out of town to do your so called 'research.'" Naruto said as he turned around with a deadpan look on his face.

Jiraiya growled as he considered showing Naruto why he should respect his superiors but sighed and slumped his shoulders as he knew that he would never be able to land a blow on the blond. So instead, he chose to turn around and stomp to the river so that he could sulk. Naruto watched him walk away for a moment before he turned back to Haku and Hinata who were staring at him.

Naruto's eyebrow rose as he said "What?"

Haku's right eye gained a twitch as he said "You shoved a kunai up a Sannin's rear end?"

Naruto shrugged and said "In all fairness, I did warn him." Ignoring the fact that now both of Haku's eyes were twitching, the blond quickly made two shadow clones and said "Alright guys, I want the two of you to work with Haku and Hinata for a while. Whichever one of you gets Hinata needs to put resistance seals on her and walk her through the theory of presence manipulation. The other one should help Haku in getting a larger radius with his ice mirrors." The two clones gave salutes and the one closest to Hinata tapped her shoulder and made a follow me gesture while he walked away while the other clone jerked his head in the opposite direction and started walking that way with Haku.

Naruto watched them go for a moment before he turned and walked over to his sulking godfather. As he reached him, he said "So are you ready to teach me how to summon?"

Jiraiya looked over his shoulder and glared at the blond as he said "And why would I do that after what you pulled? I can still feel where that kunai was shoved up my ass. Give me one reason why I shouldn't just leave right now."

Naruto rose an eyebrow and said "Maybe because it was all a Genjutsu?"

Jiraiya opened his mouth before what the blond said sunk in and his eyes narrowed before they widened and he disrupted his chakra. As soon as he did, the pain in his rear end suddenly left and Naruto smirked as he said "It's surprising what a combination of Genjutsu and a simply good kick in the pants can do."

Jiraiya's eyes narrowed again as he muttered something about how old he must be getting for a Genjutsu like that to slip by him. Then an evil gleam appeared in his eyes as he said "Alright kid, you want to know about summoning? Will I'll teach you everything you'll ever want to know about the subject, and then some."

With Hinata

Naruto's clone led Hinata to the edge of the woods that surrounded the clearing and sat down in the shade under one of the trees while gesturing for Hinata to sit in front of him. Once Hinata was sitting in front of him, the clone began allowing some of his presence loose making Hinata feel like she was in an ocean with a strong breeze blowing around her.

"What you are currently feeling is the presence that most if not all Uzumakis have. Due to the fact that we all have Wind and Water as our strongest elemental nature alignments our presences tends to lean towards things related to the ocean and storms, usually combinations of the two. A person who has mastered the skill of presence manipulation can control how much the people around them feel and even make the presence's effects around the creator physical to further intimidate their opponents. You saw an example of this when boss and Kuroda fought during that bandit raid mission of yours." When Hinata nodded showing that she understood so far, Naruto's clone continued.

"Your presence seems to be different than what we've encountered before. When you unlocked it for those ten seconds, instead of us having a feeling of a tiger of some sort looking at us we actually saw a transparent image of a white tiger. This leads Haku and boss to believe that you may be able to physically manifest your presence in a way that it would affect everyone around you and not just you yourself. If this is true, you could potentially use your presence to help you in a fight physically as well as mentally."

Hinata blinked and asked "But how do I use my presence? Yesterday at my fight I didn't even know I had did it."

CNaruto smirked as he began making hand signs. Ending on ram, he took his right hand and gently poked Hinata's forehead with his pointer and middle fingers as he said "Will for starters your mind and soul need to have a nice long chat."

Hinata's Mind Scape

Hinata opened her eyes to find herself in what looked like a meditation rock garden that was in the middle of a circular lake. Looking around she saw a red oriental bridge behind her which led to a forest. Looking back forward showed a small strip of land separating the lake from an ocean that surrounded the lake on three sides. A sudden growling noise caused her to spin around and look back towards the forest as a glowing figure walked out on four legs. The figure seemed to look right at her before it turned around and walked back into the forest. Feeling like the figure wanted her to follow it, Hinata walked quickly over the bridge and into the forest where the figure had indeed waited for her.

As she got closer, the glow died down slightly as if the figure didn't want to blind her and Hinata saw that the figure was a white tiger with a tinge of green in its fur. The tiger waited until Hinata was practically right next to it before it stretched and began walking through the forest with its tail flicking occasionally. They weren't walking for more than a minute before they came upon a sunken hole in the ground with a shallow slope leading down into its dark recesses.

The tiger walked down and slipped into the darkness without pause. Hinata however paused for a moment before she hurried after it. Once she was at the bottom of the slope, she saw that the inside of the cave actually had two silver orbs of light keeping the ten foot long cave well lit. Hinata's head cocked to the side in confusion since even though there was an exit slope at the end there wasn't any sign of a second opening back above ground. Her confusion was made even worse when they exited the small cave and came out in a octagon shaped shrine of some kind. But what really caught her attention was the shelf like beds that were along the walls, or rather, the tigers that were all laying down on the beds.

As Hinata stared at each tiger, she noticed that each one had a different colored tint to it. There was yellow, orange, red, grey, pink, lavender, and bronze. The green tiger made the final color as it walked over to its shelf and hopped up onto it. But before Hinata could wonder what each color meant, a tiger's roar that seemed to shake the very foundations of the room sounded from the roof and all of the room's occupant's looked up to the ceiling where a shelf was hanging suspended over them all by eight chains.

A pure white tiger leaped off the shelf and landed in front of Hinata who stumbled back as the tiger rose to its full height and seemed to grin at her. Then everything Hinata ever knew about animals was thrown completely out of whack as the tiger opened its mouth and said "Welcome Hinata, we've been expecting you."

With Haku

Haku followed Naruto's clone until they were near the waterfall. Once there, the clone plopped down and gestured for Haku to join him. Once the other boy was on the ground, Cnaruto said "Alright, Boss has been thinking on how to make this work and he thinks he's come up with something. He believes that for this to work you need to redesign the shape that your mirrors make. A dome is good for taking out small numbers, but Boss wants you to be able to take out numbers that are closer to around at least a hundred and in a much larger range as well. To do this, he believes that a wheel on its side is a better option. Observe."

Cnaruto gestured to the nearby river and manipulated some of the water to come at him in a stream before he flicked his hand in a circle and the steam rushed at him faster before it turned in on itself turning into a circle between the two boys. The clone then made a series of flicking motions and the wheel broke into segments which quickly changed shape in order to represent Haku's mirrors while small flecks of water moved to the middle to represent enemies. Finally, the clone gave a spinning motion with its hand and the water began revolving as the blond began speaking again.

"For obvious reasons you should only use this when you have a relatively open space. The circumference should be big enough encompass the enemies with at least ten feet separating the enemies on the edge from the mirrors themselves. The mirrors themselves will have to be tweaked a bit as well." The blond manipulated the water causing it to regroup and form a single miniature mirror that was facing him before he began tweaking its appearance. Once he was done the clone blasted it with a burst of wind freezing the mirror and set it in a slow rotation to show Haku. The mirror looked like a lens for a light house, with a curved back that showed the ice user's reflection multiple times in it's face that was bent inward to have a slight u shape if looking at from above.

The blonde allowed his creator's partner to study the mirror for a moment before he said "This is what boss believes the new mirror should look close to. He believes that the inwardly dented panels will allow you better angles and might even allow you to triple your attack payload since you actually merge with your ice when you use them."

Haku could only stare at his reflections as his partner's clone continued telling him about the ideas that he had come up with to help him.

Scene Change: Hinata's Mind Scape

"Y-you've been expecting me?" Hinata asked.

Most of the tigers grinned as the pure white tiger said "Of course. It was a given that Uzumaki would send you here to meet us since the ability to manifest a person's presence is so rare. Although we are quite unusual in the fact that your presence could actually be said to contain multiple aspects, or multiple personalities if you will."

"Multiple personalities? But I thought that a presence defined your soul. Does that mean I have MPD?" Hinata asked.

The yellow tinted tiger snorted drawing Hinata's full attention to it who now that she looked closer noticed markings that looked like spectacles around the tiger's eyes. Standing up from its bed and stretching, the tiger hopped off its shelf and walked over to stand beside its white companion and said "I can assure you that there is only one personality in this mind Hinata. Your presence however," Here the tiger gestured to the pure white tiger before it continued speaking "is made from a combination of all of us, the bigger picture if you will." This time the yellow tiger's tail was the thing moving as it pointed to all of the other tigers. "We are all aspects of you. For instance, I represent the aspect of the knowledge you hold."

"And I'm your fighting spirit! I'm the one you call on to kick some serious butt!" The green tinted tiger said in a chipper voice that surprised Hinata with how nonchalant it was when it had seemed so fierce when it had growled at her earlier.

"I'm your rudeness. You know, all that negative stuff you want to say at people but don't and instead get even with them in even better ways?" The orange tiger asked with a smirk causing Hinata to look at it strangely.

"I'm the rage that you've kept buried for so long and what help's give you so much strength in your punches when you get really ticked at something." The red tiger growled as it opened its eyes briefly before it went back to its nap seemingly uncaring about anything else going on in the room.

"I'm your timid side. You probably hate me now." The grey tiger said as it shrunk in on itself. The green tiger looked directly across at it and said "Hey lighten up!" This unfortunately only made the tiger shrink more on itself.

The pink tiger suddenly hopped off its bed and rushed over to Hinata to rub against her as it said "Hi, I'm your Happy side." Hinata giggled as the tiger's fur tickled her causing the fur to glow brightly for a moment before the tiger drew back and rushed back to its bed.

The lavender tiger sighed and said "I'm actually a representation of your Hyuga heritage, or more specifically your Byakugan. As such, when your presence draws on us, it gets its eyesight from me."

"It's also that little bit of arrogance that we all know is buried somewhere inside of you." the orange tiger said with a sneer causing the lavender tiger to snarl.

The bronze tiger chuckled before it said "Guess I'm last. I'm many things, but mostly I'm your jealousy, greed, those kinds of things. But while most people see me as a deadly sin or two, I see myself as a guide to find something to strive for."

Hinata cocked her head at that since she had never thought of it that way. She was brought out of her thoughts by the aspect of her knowledge clearing its throat. Once the yellow tiger had her attention, it said "Now Hinata, in order for you to use your presence affectively, you must first learn to draw it out."

Scene Change: With Hinata And Naruto's Clone

Naruto's clone looked up from the resistance seal he was making as he noticed his student's breathing patterns changed. Seeing her eyes open and looking around, he smiled and said "So did you meet your presence's form?"

Hinata nodded and said "Yes. But in a way it's forms not form."

The blond rose an eyebrow and said "Come again."

Hinata turned her head to look at him and said "My presence has the image of that of a white tiger. But that is made out of pieces of eight others, each a different aspect of myself."

Cnaruto's other eyebrow joined his twin as he said "Well that's different. Boss' presence was just one big massive storm on the ocean. And when I say massive storm, I mean Biggest Damn Hurricane You Could Imagine kind. He could barely make out the words that the thing said over the winds it created. So what did all of these aspects tell you?"

Hinata filed that interesting information away before she began telling the clone about her experience.

Scene Change: With The Original Naruto

Naruto had forgotten how evil his godfather could be when he was getting his revenge. The man had been talking about the summoning jutsu for three hours straight and had promised that he hadn't even TOUCHED the tip of the iceberg. Looks like he won't actually be summoning anything until tomorrow.

Time Skip: The Next Day 8:00 Waterfall 15

It was a peaceful morning at Waterfall 15. Birds were singing and chirping at each other in the nearby trees while the water in the river continued on its path before roaring down the waterfall into the lake below. That peace was suddenly disturbed as six humans suddenly appeared causing the birds to fall silent as they tried to figure out where they came from and if they were a threat. As Naruto and his clones slipped out of the slipstream and let go of their passengers, said passengers shook their heads to orient themselves to their new surroundings.

"We could have gotten here on our own power kid." Jiraiya said as Naruto's clones all dispelled.

Naruto shrugged as he began walking ahead of the group and said "Yeah, but I wanted to get started as soon as possible. Speaking of which though, are you sure it's a good idea for me to try and summon the biggest toad I can the first time through? I mean considering you know what I do have massive reserves."

Jiraiya nodded even though Naruto couldn't see it with his head facing the other way as he said "Absolutely. The sooner you summon the boss summon, the sooner you can get its approval. And believe me, you want that as soon as possible. It's always good to know that you have the support of the guy upstairs. So get out there and put every ounce of chakra you have into it."

Naruto stopped walking to turn and look at Jiraiya incredulously as he said "Every ounce? I know I don't know how much it takes yet, but EVERY OUNCE? Do you have any idea just how _much_ chakra that actually is?"

Jiraiya just made a shooing motion and Naruto sighed before he began walking away again. When he was halfway between the river and the others, Naruto stopped, turned around, and took a deep breath. Then he dug as deep into his chakra stores as he ever dared and stoked the raging fire that was his body's second circulatory system causing a roaring blue bon fire of dense chakra to appear around him that was easily fifteen feet high.

Back with the others, Jiraiya's eyes bugged out as he shouted out "Wait, not that much!" But it was too little, too late as Naruto had already bit his thumb and blazed through the necessary hand signs before slamming his hand down on the ground. A massive plume of smoke appeared covering the entire training area in a smoke fog bank that reached up to the sky higher than any of the surrounding trees and causing everybody to cough. And then a booming voice called out.

"**Jiraiya! What is going on? Why have you summoned all of us?"**

From the thick smoke cloud that was still dissipating, Naruto's panting voice was heard as he said in a loud but calm voice "While my godfather is currently at the edge of this clearing, he was not the one to summon you. That would have been me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I believe you should have been alerted to my status as your new potential summoner yesterday when I signed the toad contract."

As Naruto's voice rang throughout the clearing, the smoke cloud had finally dissipated revealing a truly impressive sight. In front of Jiraiya, Haku, and Hinata were three massive toads that rivaled the Hokage Tower in size who were all facing a center point. On each toad's head and back were about ten to fifteen other toads varying in size from the size of a grown human to the size of a horse. Naruto was currently standing on the head of the toad that was directly opposite of them with what looked like two slightly larger than normal toads on his shoulders.

Jiraiya's jaw dropped at how many toads Naruto had summoned including all three of the Big 3 and the two elders if his eyesight wasn't failing him. Hinata and Haku meanwhile couldn't get over how big some of the toads were. Jiraiya's jaw hang down for exactly 2.5 seconds before he realized the potential situation his godson was in and he snapped it shut as he rushed into the clearing shouting "Hey Gamabunta!"

All of the toads, who had glanced at the blond at the boss summon's head, turned to looked at their white haired summoner who rushed into the circle of the summoned toads. He was quickly joined by Naruto who briefly joined the slipstream to appear by his side with the two smallest toads still on his shoulders drawing mutterings from the toads. Thud sounds began filling the air as the smaller toads began hopping off their bigger companions to get closer to the two summoner while the bigger toads shuffled in a little closer.

Looking up at the toad Naruto had been standing on, Jiraiya said "I'm sorry for the inconvenience Gamabunta. I wanted Naruto to summon you today but I didn't realize he had so much chakra."

By his side, Naruto lifted his shoulders a little and said "Well what did you expect? You know I constantly pulse out my chakra to negate the tunnel vision effects of the slipstream. Did you think that wouldn't effect my reserves."

"Touché." Jiraiya acknowledged before Gamabunta butted into the conversation.

"**As interesting as it is to see you two squabble, we must still test young Naruto for the right to summon us."**

"Since he managed to summon me and Ma, I believe I will do the testing Bunta-boy." The toad on Naruto's right shoulder, a male if the beard on his chin was anything to go by said. The massive toad looked down at the toad that was like a fly in comparison and nodded his head causing Naruto to cock his head and glance at his godfather in confusion.

Seeing the blonde's confusion, Jiraiya said "Ma and Pa are the toad elders, and are actually in some ways better in a fight than a boss summons. Kind of like a Kage level shinobi when compared to a Sannin."

Naruto gave an "Ah." before the toad on his left shoulder hopped off and Pa said "It's obvious you have Minato-boy's speed. Do you think you can take us somewhere where we won't be disturbed for a while?"

Naruto nodded and in the next instant the two were gone as he once again joined the slipstream. In his place were two other blondes who quickly walked out of the circle towards Hinata and Haku to work on the tasks given to them by their creator. While that was happening, Ma turned to Jiraiya and hopped onto his shoulder as she said "So Jiraiya-boy, tell me about this Naruto person."

Scene Change: Valley of the End (Time in the slipstream: roughly thirty minutes)

Naruto reappeared on the head of the statue of his village's first leader. Pa hopped off his shoulder and looked around as he said "This place will do." Looking over his shoulder he said "Follow me." The elderly toad then proceeded to hop over to the edge of the statue and then _off_ of it earning a raised eyebrow from Naruto who walked over and saw the toad freefall before he dove into the water barely making a ripple near the waterfall. A moment later, a webbed hand breached the surface of the water and pushed the rest of the body up as the toad began water walking heading to the center of the river.

Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto walked a few steps back and then took a running start before he leapt off the statue and freefell halfway down. Once he fell past the statue's waist he began spinning his body forming wind to spin around him in a sphere remininscint of one of his father's jutsu. The sphere of wind drastically decreased Naruto's falling speed until when it began touching the water he was barely moving. Naruto dropped the wind shell and dropped the last few feet into a crouch before he straightened and walked over to the old toad who was standing about thirty feet away.

Said old toad shook his head and said "You young people. Always so flashy."

Naruto shrugged and said "You said to follow, I followed. I just didn't feel like meeting the water at high speed, belly flop or other wise."

A sort of chuckling, snort, and croak combination made it's way out of Pa's throat before he got into a Taijutsu stance and said "Now then, in order for you to be allowed to summon us, you must pass my test. That test is to last in an all out fight with me for one hour. You may begin whenever you're ready."

Naruto cocked an eyebrow and said "All out? Are you sure you want to do that? I mean my dad was a summoner for you guys before he died so you know the kind of advantage our bloodline gives us."

Pa gave a wry grin as he said "Oh I'm quite sure Naruto-boy. Now come on, give me your best shot."

"Okay, if you say so." Naruto said in the slow slightly dragged out tone of voice you use when someone is telling you to do something to them that you think that other person will regret. Naruto disappeared for a moment before Pa suddenly jumped up and spun in the air before landing a back heel kick with his right food sending Naruto flying who had tried to hit Pa from behind. Naruto skidded across the water throwing up waves as he looked at Pa with wide eyes. Pa simply smirked at him and gave the universal come motion with his right hand causing Naruto to smirk as well.

Reaching into his kunai pouch with both hands, Naruto said "Ok, now you made me curious. And that's never a good thing."

Pa's smirk turned evil as he said "Your father said the exact same thing once. I still left him black and blue. Think you can do better Naruto-boy?"

"No, but I'm willing to try!" Naruto said as he brought his hands out with a kunai in each hand spinning before he gripped them in a reverse grip with the blades screeching from the wind chakra they were coated in. Naruto joined the slipstream again as he rushed his small opponent determined to make him sweat a little.

Author's Notes: I know some of you may be a little disappointed with the length of this. Truth is I planned to go the whole month but decided that here was a good place to stop.**  
**


	15. Chapter 15

15. Back Door Dealings And Counter Intelligence

AN: People, you most likely know by now that I don't care about people putting down their thoughts in reviews if it can be considered relevant to the story. That said, please refrain from telling me that I must have hated having to focus on one character or another since they are 'mice' and essentially not worth any screen time. That may be your opinion of the character but this is a site for stories, not to start a hate group. And if I didn't want to focus on that person than I wouldn't have now would I? Now that that's out of my system, here's the next chapter.

Story Start: Valley of the End

Anyone who was around the Valley of the End at the moment would have pulled up a chair and grabbed some popcorn. Naruto Uzumaki (secretly Namikaze) was down in the gorge of the valley facing Pa, the male elder of the Toad clan in an all out one hour long battle royal. The two had just had the opening moves and now Naruto was rushing the old toad with wind coated kunai in hand.

As Naruto rushed the elder toad, his blades elongated thanks to the wind chakra he had coated the blades in before he reached his opponent and sent an uppercut slash that Pa lazily deflected with his hand as he sidestepped. The wind from Naruto's kunai formed a ten foot tall blade as it continued its route cutting a small crack into the water before it sliced into the waterfall behind them. Neither of the two fighters paid any attention to that though since Pa was already moving to take out Naruto's kneecap from the front with a punch in his toad fist style. Some deep instinct in Naruto told him not to let that fist come anywhere near his person so he quickly jumped back out of range only to be blasted back once again like the time Pa had intercepted him at the very beginning of their fight.

Flipping forward and slamming his face on the water as he shot back, Naruto groaned slightly as he got back to his feet and spit the water out of his mouth before looking at Pa who was smirking at him. "Okay. Now I'm really curious. I know I avoided that punch of yours." Naruto said.

Pa's smirk turned evil as he said "Ah, but that's the beauty of the toad style Naruto boy. You never knoI havew just how much you have to avoid it."

Before Naruto could say anything to that, he had a toad literally in his face as Pa launched a round house kick at his face. Naruto quickly ducked and felt something trying to push his body down into the water they were standing on top of. Gritting his teeth in response, Naruto flared his chakra causing the water to erupt away from his feet and keeping him at his current level before he rushed to Pa's side and sent in his left kunai towards the toad's rib's. Only for the toad to once again smirk as his skin turned dark and the blade didn't even penetrate although it did push the green one away from the blond.

"You're going to need something a lot more sharper than that to pierce my skin Naruto-boy. Even if they have wind coating them, they just don't have enough oomph. To me they feel like toothpicks."

Naruto quickly disappeared and reappeared on one of the river banks getting distance away from the toad as he looked at his kunai for a moment. Getting a grin that Pa recognized from the boy's mother, Naruto said "A little more oomph eh? Well then, how about this?" As Naruto spoke, he put away his left kunai before he made a gesture with his left hand and manipulated the nearby water to cover his kunai's blade as he began shaping it. Pa rose an eyebrow wondering what he was up to before the new blade finished shaping itself and Naruto blasted it with a wind jutsu freezing it to reveal a blade. Or more specifically, a kilij.

"I'll have to thank Haku for giving me this idea." Naruto said as wind began spinning around the bent blade making its killing potential even more powerful. Wind also began spinning around Naruto's entire body before it condensed to form an inch thick armor that would prevent himself from potentially losing a limb due to his inexperience with the blade. Just because he knew a few basics of swordplay didn't mean he was a master at it. Naruto then rejoined the Slipstream and rushed back at Pa ready to potentially take off one of Pa's limbs if the toad didn't respond properly. Fortunately Naruto wouldn't have to explain to the toad's wife why he was now one handed since there was a poof of smoke before a seemingly normal walking stick was blocking Naruto's wind enhanced ice sword of doom. (Chuckles, that was funny writing that.)

As the blade barely sunk half an inch into the obviously reinforced wood and Pa gave a grin at Naruto, said blond merely stared at the toad incredulously as he said "A stick? You chose to block one of the best types of cutting blades with a stick?"

"Why use such complicated things as the blending of iron and copper, or even water and wind, when good old wood works every time." Pa said before Naruto was suddenly sent flying out of the baseball park as Pa pushed his blade away and swung his stick like a baseball bat hitting Naruto in the stomach as Pa had been talking.

As Naruto was sent flying for the third time, Pa's stick disappeared in a poof of smoke as he shook his head and said "Come on Naruto-boy, I know you can do better than this. Stop holding back."

Naruto stood up from where he had been knocked back with a hard look on his face. Letting his wind and water manipulation skills drop, the wind around him died while his sword disappeared as the water dropped back into the river. Naruto put his kunai away as he said "So you want me to stop holding back? Alright, I was just going to wait until half time to get serious, but if you want it all now, then that's what you're going to get."

Pa frowned as Naruto's presence began to flare and his hair began to blow around. Then Naruto made a hand sign and said "Transform!" The blond was covered in smoke for a brief moment before it dispersed revealing that the blond had used his specialty in the transformation jutsu to turn his body into his five year old self so that way he was closer to Pa's height. Pa though thought that it was just a head game, but before he could comment on that, Naruto's hair went from just blowing around to looking like it was in a full on cyclone as Naruto unleashed the full brunt of his presence causing his clothes to flap around and waves to form on the water he was standing on.

Pa felt the smallest bead of sweat form on his brow as he felt like he was in the worst storm imaginable while out at sea as he thought 'To have such a presence while still so young. This shall certainly prove interesting.'

He was brought out of his thoughts as Naruto disappeared and reappeared right in Pa's face twice as fast as he had been going before with his fist already sending Pa flying in an uppercut to the chin. Pa's eyes widened as he was lifted into the air and he had just enough time to think 'It's not an illusion?' Then Naruto yanked on the chakra string he had attached to Pa's chin and drew him back to him. Naruto proceeded to land seven punches into Pa's chest before he round house kicked the toad in the side of the head sending the toad crashing into the Uchiha side of the ravine. The dust hadn't even had a chance to fly before Naruto was there with his fist flying at Pa's form.

Pa caught the fist as he stared into Naruto's eyes. Raising an eyebrow, Pa said "Going all out doesn't mean only getting in seven hits when you have the advantage of surprise like that Naruto-boy."

"You said go all out, not be a bully." Naruto said as his left arm rose toward Pa's elbow hoping to break it even as the younger of the two fighters spun into a sweeping kick for the ribs. Pa quickly let go of Naruto's right hand as he jumped over the leg and said "Ah, but sometimes, they're one and the same." The rising toad then grabbed a hold of Naruto's hair and pulled it as his knee rose causing Naruto's head to jerk forward and slam into the knee disorienting the blond before Pa spun and back handed Naruto away.

Naruto turned his fall to the side into a spin and landed on all four limbs before he was suddenly right back in the still falling toad's face and returned the favor by grabbing the toad's beard and slammed the toad into the ground before he disappeared and reappeared on the Senju side of the river and blitzed through hand signs before he called out "Wind Water Combination: Typhoon's Rage Jutsu!" A water funnel shot up from the river in front of him and bent towards Pa's form while at the same time a funnel of wind formed and rushed Pa from the sky. The two funnels met at Pa's position and threw up a massive cloud of dust and debris as chunks of rock the size of Naruto's head bounced away from the crater.

But when the dust cleared there was no sign of the amphibian and Naruto had to quickly dodge the mud dragon that shot at him at speeds that that particular jutsu shouldn't be capable of. Chuckling from behind and above him caused Naruto to turn his head to where he had 'seen' Pa land with his chakra field as the toad said "Switching to jutsu already Naruto-boy? My, how impatient the younger generation is."

Naruto grinned and said "Yeah well, you can't really talk considering you just sent a mud dragon at me."

Pa smirked and said "Ah, but I wasn't first." Then he pushed off and the two were back at it again as Pa aimed a punch at the blonde's ribs which Naruto deflected and spun with the force to send a kick at the old toad's back who ducked under the kick and tried to slam a punch into the leg only for Naruto to disappear and come at him from another angle. As Naruto came in with a punch to the joint where the neck meets the right shoulder Pa grabbed his wrist and pulled downward as he hopped up slamming a knee into Naruto's chin causing him to stumble backwards before he recovered and sent out a knife strike in retaliation.

As all this was going on, Naruto was constantly trying to figure out how the old toad was seeming to keep up with his speed.

'He doesn't seem to be using chakra to move his body faster than its natural limits like Kuroda did, so how is he keeping up? Are his reflexes actually so good that he can figure out what I will do before I actually do it? If so, then that seems a little too close to the Sharingan than I'm comfortable with.'

Naruto had to put any further thoughts on hold as Pa's stick made a reappearance and he began swatting the blond with it to keep him at a distance. Naruto countered by quickly using the wind sword jutsu in order to both have something to block with and to have something to reach across the distance the two had. As soon as the two fighters both had a weapon in hand the match quickly devolved into a deadly dance of attack and counter, block and repost. It was twenty minutes of heavy fighting before Pa disengaged and hopped back sighing as he once again dismissed his staff.

"I've seen enough of your swordsmanship. You seem to have been more comfortable with your kunai in the beginning of this test but you knew enough to use the Wind Sword jutsu without killing yourself. Now lets see your other jutsu."

Naruto only gave a small nod in response before his hands disappeared for exactly 0.3 seconds and he shouted out "Wind Style: Wind Senbon Jutsu." As Naruto called out the name of his jutsu and exhaled, hundreds of invisible wind senbon needles rocketed out of his mouth towards Pa. The toad though simply stomped his foot once and an earth wall immediately rose up to protect it's creator. Naruto frowned as he didn't sense his opponent leave behind the wall which only meant one of two things. Either Pa wanted to see what Naruto's next move would be, or he was going to make the most of that wall.

Turns out it was the second, since Naruto 'saw' Pa punch the wall and then all of a sudden Naruto was dodging spikes that shot from the wall in waves as Pa punched the wall three more times before he kicked it. As soon as Pa's foot hit the wall, Naruto wasn't dodging spikes, but boulders, ten of them to be exact, and all of them seemed to be locked onto him. He sidestepped the first two before he poured wind chakra into his hands to protect them as he placed both of them over the top of the third and sprung over it before he pushed it down causing him to go higher in the air. Flipping so that his arms were where his legs would normally be he sliced the next two boulders in half as they passed under him before he attached chakra threads to all four pieces and sent them into the next four that came turning all of them into bits of dust. As Naruto landed the last piece of rock rocketed right towards his chest only for Naruto to round house kick it away with a chakra enforced kick of his right leg.

All of this happened in the span of two seconds. Even as Naruto's foot made contact with the last boulder, he was already making hand signs before he shot his hand forward with his first two fingers straightened like he was holding a whip as he said "Wind Style: Wind Whip Jutsu." The whip of wind extended from his two fingers and wrapped around Pa's leg before Naruto jerked his hand and sent Pa flying up into the air away from the earth that was obviously his element of choice before he went through more hand signs and said "Wind Style: Wind Bullet Justu."

Three spheres of air shot out of Naruto's mouth and rocketed towards Pa's airborne form. Pa's eyes narrowed before his cheeks bulged and he shot three bullets of water from his mouth. The six projectiles collided with each other forming a slight mist before a wind dragon blasted through it and slammed into Pa's body. Naruto watched as the wind dragon pushed Pa further up into the air before it dispersed. His eyes narrowed as his chakra in the air revealed nothing but the smallest of scratches on Pa's skin. What's more, as soon as the dragon dissipated, Pa made two hand signs before a miniature dragon of the toad's own creation burst out of Pa's mouth, this one made out of water. The smaller than usual dragon roared at Naruto as it barreled down at him before Naruto back handed it with a wind coated right hand causing it to burst apart.

As Pa landed on the ground in a crouch in front of him, Naruto sensed chakra pulse from the toad into the river as the toad made the same two hand signs and a much larger water dragon rose out of the river on the toad's right. Naruto's eyes flicked over to the yellow eyes of the water dragon as it let out a growl before it launched itself at the blond before Naruto disappeared. The dragon slammed into where the blond had been throwing up a debris cloud in a similar manner to the dragon that Reina had used in her preliminary fight. The only difference was when the dust cloud cleared the dragon was still there as it looked around for its target. Or at least it was still there until Naruto appeared right above its head already slamming a wind enhanced ax kick into its head which caused it to disperse.

Even as Naruto appeared and kicked the water construct, he had already blazed through hand signs and shouted out "Wind Style: Wind Wolf Pack Jutsu!" Naruto landed in a crouch as the air around him shimmered before it swirled into itself to form a five member strong pack of snarling wolves that growled at Pa. Naruto frowned at Pa and said "If you expect me to take this fight seriously then I must ask you to do the same sir. Attacking me with such underpowered jutsu is making me think that you'd rather not be here."

Pa's right eyebrow twitched and he said "Younglings these days, always so disrespectful. Very well, you want my techniques at full power, then you shall have them at full power. Earth Style: Toad Golem Jutsu." Right after speaking Pa gave a low but obviously heavy hop. As soon as he hit the ground again the ground gave a deep shudder before Pa began rising up on what seemed to be a rather wide column that seemed to be over twenty feet wide. That notion was quickly dissuaded as Naruto saw the 'column' curve and a pair of closed eyes rise above the level of the ground before they were followed by nostrils and a wide mouth. The face was then followed by a chest that was easily twenty feet tall before finally what Naruto assumed were bent legs that were at least fifty feet tall finally came out of the ground.

As the hundred foot tall statue that looked vaguely like a toad lowered it's head and groaned opened it's eyes, Naruto sighed and said "Now who's being disrespectful? Sending something so clumsy looking after me. Wind Style: Tornado's Fury Jutsu!" The effects of Naruto's jutsu became apparent as right after he called out the Jutsu's name the wolves that surrounded him dispersed into their base element and the wind began whipping about making his still ongoing presence's effects look like nothing but what a small handheld fan could do. Naruto immediately crouched down and anchored himself with chakra as after the first two seconds of jutsu activation the wind really kicked up and a tornado easily three hundred feet tall and ninety feet wide instantly whirled into existence.

As soon as the tornado came into existence it began grinding against the front of the stone golem easily carving small crevices into it within seconds. Those crevices quickly became holes as chunks of the golem were ripped out. Pa meanwhile was having to anchor himself with chakra even as Naruto upped his chakra output and doubled the tornado's size and height. The rim of the tornado shot past the edge of the cliff face with no signs of stopping even as it began carving into the solid rock. Pa's earth construct groaned as the wind began slowly lifting it into the air before it suddenly exploded into over a thousand pieces as the wind proceeded to shred it. As Pa felt the wind trying to turn him into Swiss cheese he looked down to where Naruto was still anchored to the ground and saw him look up at him and make two hand signs before he ended on tiger and said "Fire Style: Campfire's Light." Naruto spat a small ember out of his mouth which shot into the funnel instantly setting the funnel ablaze.

Scene Change: Waterfall 15: Time: 8:30 With Hinata

Hinata followed Naruto's clone through the trees as they tree hopped to a place with a bit more privacy further upriver than the clearing where Jiraiya had started to talk with the second toad elder and Haku and the other clone had began working on trying to get his mirrors the right shape. As they traveled Hinata thought about the progress she had yesterday, or rather the seeming lack of progress.

Knowledge had told her that presences could be considered a special branch of Genjutsu in the very loosest terms. This was because when a person used their presence it mentally manipulated their opponent in small levels to intimidate them. But the key thing that separated presences and Genjutsu from each other was the fact that presences had absolutely nothing to do with chakra. It didn't matter if you were the greatest shinobi alive or the poorest peasant, if you ever found out how to tap into your presence, you could use it to manipulate what others around you were feeling on various levels. Of course, most people did this on an unconscious level which is what most people described as the person having a certain air around them. The really hard part was consciously focusing on it and manipulating it to the point where you could turn that 'air' on and off.

Once Knowledge had finished explaining just what exactly a presence was, it went on to say that consciously manipulating a presence was practically impossible to 'just figure out' and that even those who were considered the best actors probably only did so unconsciously. To consciously manipulate one's presence was practically unheard of in some parts. But this was really only because so few people manage to begin the process of drawing on it.

And that is what Hinata had been trying to do. She had tried to look into herself to find her presence so that she could draw it out to the surface of her mind like Knowledge had told her to but whenever she thought she might have something it would disappear. The only thing that kept her from despairing was the fact that Naruto's clone didn't seem too upset. He had said that it had taken the original a month to even be able to understand his presence in his mind scape and something told him that Hinata would be able to consciously manipulate her presence in a much shorter amount of time then the blond since she could actually understand her presence when she first saw it. Hinata wasn't convinced, but would worry about that later since today they were going to put on the full body resistance seal that the clone from yesterday had made.

She was pulled out of her thoughts as the clone said "This should be far enough." As the clone hopped down to the river bank and pulled out the scroll that contained the currently compressed resistance seal, Hinata joined him on the ground as she looked around. The area they had stopped in wasn't a clearing like she had thought they would go to. Instead they had stopped in an area where the trees grew just a little bit closer than usual looking like they almost formed a solid wall. Looking at the river whose path they had followed, Hinata noticed that it had slowly widened the further upstream they had traveled. Where it was ten feet at the waterfall, the river here was now twenty feet wide.

She was once again drawn from her thoughts by the sound of ripping paper as the clone ripped the part of the scroll with the seal on it away from the rest before he turned to Hinata and said "Please turn around and lift your shirt."

Hinata's face turned bright red as she thought about how what the clone said could be implied but did as she was asked. The clone rose an eyebrow at the blush before he placed the one foot by two foot piece of paper on top of Hinata's spine and made a half hand ram sign with his left hand even as he kept his right on the seal and said "Seal!" The compressed seal flashed blue for a second before it began glowing constantly as the ink of the seal spread off the paper in lines of sealing code that traveled over Hinata's body as the seal unfolded itself spreading vine like lines down Hinata's limbs and wrapping around Hinata's front and up her neck to her face before it stopped glowing. The seal remained visible for another five seconds before it seemed to sink into her skin leaving no trace that it was ever there.

Naruto's clone took the now blank piece of paper off of Hinata's spine from where the seal had both unfolded off of and faded through it before he ran a chakra infused finger down where one of the lines were testing to see if it responded or not. Getting a query in response, the clone nodded his head and stepped back as he said "Alright, you can lower your shirt now Hinata."

Hinata breathed a sigh of relief and allowed her shirt and jacket to fall back down before she turned back to the clone and said "Now what?" She would never admit it to anyone but the feeling of the seal spreading across her body had felt worse than having someone else placing something on your back and holding it there.

The clone smiled and said "Now I teach you how to use the seal and then we begin running back to the others so you can get used to it."

With Haku: 8:30

"Again!"

Haku's hands blurred through the familiar hand signs as he followed the clone of his partner's orders. The water from the nearby river and puddles from previous attempts shot up and formed a ring of dented mirrors surrounding the two. Once the ring finished forming they all gained a slight sheen showing their readiness to be used. The blond clicked a timer and looked down at it before shaking his head and said "Thirty five seconds for a fifty foot ring. I know this is only the second day but that is still not nearly fast enough Haku. If we're going to have you be able to successfully take out groups of people in rings that are around a hundred feet or more in size than we're going to have to pick up the pace. Again!"

Haku mentally broke apart his mirrors before he went through the hand signs again trying to make the ring of unfamiliar mirrors faster. He had a few factors working against him. The first was obviously the unfamiliarity with the new shape of the mirrors. He had been using flat panels for the shape of his mirrors for so long that it took that extra bit of concentration and time to make sure he used the new shape. He also had distance and shape of the jutsu working against him. With the dome he had a shorter range to spread the chakra around and had a simple 'gem' shape to use as the final look to go for. With the ring he had to stretch his chakra further and come up with a collective shape that he wasn't all that sure actually had a name that described it. Haku put those thoughts on hold as he put his hands in the last sign and manipulated his chakra again.

Scene Change: Waterfall 15 Time: 9:15

Naruto kept his vortex of fire active for fifteen seconds before he cut the flow of chakra from the fire enhanced wind jutsu and allowed the tornado to disperse into stray embers. Panting from all of the combined chakra he had used so far during the day, he idly watched as the stray embers floated to the ground and he saw Pa's form drop to the ground. The toad's skin was dark again showing that he had used that unknown defensive jutsu to keep himself safe. To bad it didn't work for his cloak though, since the toad was currently patting out embers that were still in the badly burnt cloth.

Naruto cocked his head and said "So have you seen enough in this test yet?"

Pa cocked his own as he put a hand to his chin in thought. Grinning, he said "One last test I think. You've shown that you can handle one boss summon sized creature on your own. I'd like to see if you can handle more than one."

Naruto rose an eyebrow not liking the sound of that last sentence. But before he could ask how Pa planned to do that, Pa made ten quick hand signs and hopped eight times on the ground. Naruto was expecting another golem to appear but he was shocked when ten of the massive earth constructs shot out of the earth in two five figure wide rows instead of slowly rising like before. He was even more surprised when five water golems formed out of the river all in a row with the middle golem no more than a hundred feet from Naruto.

Naruto stared at the golems as he allowed himself ten seconds to wonder how the hell the old toad was doing all of these insane jutsu with so few hand signs before he dropped his transformation. As the resulting smoke cleared Pa was treated to the rather rare sight of Naruto unsealing a small bag that held exactly twenty soldier pills. Naruto then proceeded to do an even rarer thing and reached in and took exactly half of those pills before he popped them all into his mouth in one go causing Pa's eyes to widen at the apparently suicidal move. (Remember that one soldier pill is rumored to allow a shinobi to fight for three days and nights straight. Imagine what ten all at once would do.)

Naruto's chakra had taken two rather large drains today. The first was when he had used as much as could be considered 'safe' when dealing with the blond to summon all of those toads. And then when his chakra had been slowly but surely refilling even with jutsu flying around he had formed a massive tornado that had put his massive reserves back down into the five percent range. But as soon as he swallowed the pills, Naruto felt his reserves shoot straight back up to one hundred percent, maybe even one hundred ten percent, making him smile as he said "You know, I've always wanted to try this but I've never actually been in a situation that was actually appropriate. Transform!"

Smoke erupted from Naruto's form covering him as it instantly shot up into the sky past the height of the golems and even past the rim of the valley itself before it stopped at a height of at least five hundred feet. (I believe that the valley is around the three fifty mark.) The smoke hung in the air for ten seconds obstructing Pa's view before it began to slowly disperse and revealed a sight that left Pa's jaw wanting to fall to the floor.

Where as before Naruto had used his unique transformation skills to seemingly turn back time until he looked like a five year old, he now looked closer to a twenty four year old. Or at least he would have if you could see him at a distance seeing as how his new and rather impressive five hundred foot height made it impossible to see all of him at once from where Pa was.

Naruto turned his head to look down and grinned as he said **"You wanted to know what I would do against multiple boss summon sized opponents? Well if they were all spread out and could easily move around I'd just put at least ten explosion tags on each body in key areas before they could do too much damage. But why do that when they are all grouped together in this valley and I can indulge in a childish fantasy just this once?"**

Before Pa could respond to that, Naruto's massive form disappeared before he reappeared in the air over one of the stone golems in the middle of their formation and allowed gravity to take over. The unfortunate golem was instantly reduced to rubble as Naruto's new weight was brought down on it. The other toad golems all began moving with surprising speed towards Naruto in retaliation only for the blond to have immediately dropped into a sweep kick when he had landed taking out two more golems as well as digging out a wide cave in the Cliffside before he slammed a palm into another golem's torso sending it into the one behind it and turning both into rubble. Naruto stayed in his crouch as he observed the remaining five stone golems and the five water golems that had by that time joined the fight. The ten elemental constructs formed a ring around Naruto and rushed him all at the same time causing him to smirk as he crossed his arms and formed two wind swords before he spun around in a circle and slashed into the constructs disrupting all ten while at the same time slicing into both cliff sides leaving two long lines of empty air where there had once been solid stone.

Dismissing his swords Naruto stood up and looked down at Pa who hadn't moved from his spot and said **"So have you seen enough?"**

Scene Change: Waterfall 15 Time: 10:00

Jiraiya and Ma were sitting across from each other as the two continued to talk. Further downstream near the waterfall Haku continued to constantly make and dismiss his mirrors trying to get his speed up to the expectations of his partner's clone. Meanwhile up stream, Naruto's other clone was having Hinata run through the katas for the Gentle Fist style in order to further get used to the new resistance seals while at the same time making suggestions about how to best take advantage of the Hyuga clan heir's flexible agility. The two sages' heads suddenly snapped to Jiraiya's left as an exhausted Naruto left the slipstream and appeared with Pa on his shoulder. Haku and Hinata both saw him appear as well but were quickly brought back to their task's by their minders.

As Pa hopped off of Naruto's shoulder Jiraiya said "So how did he do?"

Pa sat down next to his wife as he said "Young Naruto-boy seems to be quite well off considering how few years he can actually claim as his own. I have no problems allowing him to summon any members of the toad clan to help in battle should he ever need us."

"Well that's good." Jiraiya said.

"Indeed." Naruto agreed as he plopped himself down next to his godfather and looked towards where Haku was once again making a large ring of mirrors. Turning his head to look behind him he saw his other clone moving Hinata's right arm a little as she performed part of a kata that Naruto recognized from when she was holding off Sai's tanto. Jerking his head towards Hinata while jerking a thumb to Haku, Naruto said "They seem to be coming along well."

Naruto got three nods in response before Jiraiya smirked and said "So how much property damage can the village bill you two? Ow!"

Naruto rose an eyebrow as both Pa and Ma jumped forward and whacked Jiraiya in the head before the blond said "The village won't actually be able to charge me considering we were at the Valley of the End, but to answer your question, Pa here needed to do some impressive earth manipulation to fix all of the damage we ended up doing. Ow!"

"You mean all the damage you did Naruto-boy. I wasn't the one who transformed myself into a five hundred foot version of myself just to take care of a few golems." Pa said as he landed from hitting Naruto in the head.

Now it was Jiraiya's turn to raise an eyebrow as he turned to his godson and said "Transformed? I thought that the transformation jutsu was just an illusion. How could that help?"

Naruto smirked before he said "Maybe this will put things into perspective. Transform." The blond was covered in smoke before it cleared and revealed a blonde fox smirking up at Jiraiya before it hopped up on the elder toad summoner's shoulder and said "Still think this is an illusion?"

Jiraiya's jaw dropped as he slowly reached a hand up and felt the fur on Naruto's body even as he stuttered out "A real physical transformation performed by a human?" Jiraiya's eyes rolled to the back of his head as all of the potential applications for such a jutsu overloaded his brain and Naruto hopped off his shoulder as he fell back and hit the ground with a thud.

Turning around to look at his god father Naruto frowned at the perverted grin that slowly made its way on his face and the blond shook his head and said "I don't even want to know what's going on in that sick mind of his right now." The two toads behind the temporarily transformed blond could only nod as Jiraiya let out a perverted giggle as he thought about how his god son's 'sexy jutsu' was less a prank and more of a god send.

Time Skip: Six Days After Preliminaries, Sunrise: Hidden Rock Village Main Gate

Onoki of the Twin Scales took a moment to take one last look at his village before he turned to his Jounin Commander and said "I leave the village in your capable hands commander."

The commander nodded and said "I'll make sure everything is running smoothly while you're gone sir. Enjoy your trip."

Onoki nodded before he turned to his granddaughter and said "Make sure you keep up Kurotsuchi. It's two days to the Leaf village by flight on average and I plan on getting there before sunset on the second day."

Kurotsuchi nodded before Onoki tapped his granddaughter and the two began floating before they shot into the sky before they leveled off at five hundred feet and rocketed towards the Land of Fire.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village Seven Days After Preliminaries: 2:45 AM

Like most places, it was fairly quite at night in the Hidden Leaf Village. The only activity that usually took place was the night patrols of ANBU groups and civilians working night shifts or medics working at the hospital. Tonight was a little different in the fact that two more people were awake talking as they stared at a third person who never slept as he stared at the moon. As the Sand village's Jinchuriki once more wasted another night of boredom while others slept, a block away his Jounin sensei was having a meeting with his contact as they stared across the roofs of the lower buildings separating them from the higher building where Gaara had perched himself.

"So it's true I see. He really does never sleep." Kabuto said as he adjusted his glasses causing them to momentarily flash.

Baki grunted before he said "Should we really be meeting face to face like this? I heard about what happened at the hospital a few days ago. Hell, the whole village heard about it. You screwed up when it came to retrieving that Uchiha brat and now the whole village is after you. If I'm caught talking to you it would not look good."

Kabuto waved his hand as if having the entire Leaf village on the lookout for him was no big deal as he said "It wouldn't matter since anyone who found us like this could easily be taken care of. And to tell you the truth, I allowed myself to be discovered."

"What? Why would you do something so stupid?" Baki asked looking at him wondering how someone could be so stupid.

Kabuto shrugged and said "Well, to be honest I was curious to see how the Leaf would react, and it did not disappoint. But enough chit chat, here are the plans for the Kazekage."

Baki took the proffered scroll from Kabuto although he frowned as he said "You take too many risks Sound nin. If you expose the plan before we are ready then we will have to pull out. The Sand will not make a move until the Sound attacks. That is the Kazekage's will."

A block away in an alley, a figure stiffened as he thought 'The Sound is going to attack and the Sand is helping? I have to warn the Hokage.' The figure turned ready to jump away only to cringe as he disturbed loose gravel.

Back with the other two Kabuto gave another dismissive wave as he said "Of course it is. You just be ready to do your part and your village will be able to once again proudly claim to be one of the strongest in existence. By the end of the first round of the Chunin Exam this village will be burning. Oh, and don't worry about the spy, I'll take care of him."

"No, I'll handle it. After all, it's just a Leaf mouse." Baki said as Killer Intent slowly filled the air.

'Shit, they heard me!' the figure thought before he crouched ready to jump away. But before his knees could unbend he suddenly seemed to disappear into thin air. Not more than a few seconds later Baki appeared in front of where he had been and looked around. Hearing a crashing sound he tensed as a trash can rolled towards him before he relaxed as a cat walked out of the darkness and looked into the now open trash can.

'Just a cat? The oncoming invasion must be making us paranoid.' Baki thought before the cat looked up at him and started hissing at him. Baki suddenly paled as he now noticed a ribbon around the cat's left ear. Even in the Sand village there were stories about the demon cat that belonged to the Fire Daimyo's wife, and Baki wasn't interested in finding out if the stories of it being able to take on Jounin were real or not. The cat however, seemed to have other ideas as it began to let out a low mewl before it launched itself at Baki's face. Baki grunted in pain as the cat's claws tore into his face before he threw the cat off of him and took off back to the hotel muttering about damn cats while Tora ran back into the alley.

As both figures disappeared, a blond figure stepped out of the darkness and thought 'Never thought I'd ever be glad to have placed a tracking tag on that cat for anything other than knowing when to hide my seafood ramen.' Looking towards the Hokage tower where a single light was still on the figure frowned and thought 'It's a good thing I found this meeting or else we could have probably lost a Jounin tonight and we would have had no confirmation that Sound and Sand are actually working together on this. Hopefully the old man will know what to do.' The blond then disappeared as he continued his self regulated patrol hoping to find out where the traitor went.

Time Skip: 16 Hours Later, 6:45 PM Hidden Leaf Village Barrier Squad Headquarters

Alarms suddenly ripped through the quiet atmosphere of the barrier squad's headquarters as the barrier that surrounded the village in a sphere suddenly detected a breach. The squad commander rushed out of his office towards the bowl where the projection of the barrier was and said "What's going on? Why has the main barrier alarm sounded?"

"We're picking up an unauthorized breach sir. It seems to be two people. But it's weird, this says their flying." One of the attendants said as he pointed at the projection where ripples were appearing at the top of the sphere.

The commander's eyes widened as he said "There's only one person that I can think of who can fly and would be confident enough to come here with only one other person. I better tell the Hokage to expect company." Putting action to words, the commander rushed back into his office and slapped a button on his intercom that had a link directly to his village leader's office. As soon as he heard his kage's voice come through the speaker he said "Sir, the primary barrier has just been breached by two people coming in from the air. I believe it is the Tsuchikage and an escort."

"Hm, I see. Well this is unusual. Thank you commander, now if you excuse me I believe I should go greet old Onoki."

Scene Change: Hokage Tower Roof

Sarutobi walked out onto the roof of the tower and could immediately hear the sound of hundreds of the village's citizens talking to themselves in confusion. And it was no wonder either he thought as he looked up and spotted what to civilians looked like two large dots but to shinobi who were trained to see farther were actually his counter part and a girl who if he was not mistaken was Onoki's granddaughter slowly floating down towards the tower. It took a while, but five minutes after they first breached the barrier Onoki and Kurotsuchi touched down on the roof.

Sarutobi gave a respectful nod of his head as he said "Onoki, it has been a while."

"Indeed it has Sarutobi. Unfortunately this is not a pleasure trip. May we speak in private?" Onoki asked as he returned the nod.

"Of course, please follow me." Sarutobi said before he turned and walked back to the stairs that led into the tower. Onoki and Kurotsuchi followed at a respectful distance as the three walked through the hallways of the building until they came to the Fire Shadow's office.

Once all three shinobi were seated, Onoki said "I won't waste your time with small talk Sarutobi. I came here to not only confirm a rumor that I had my granddaughter look into for myself but to also determine if there might be a potential threat to my village. I'm afraid that this threat might come from both inside and outside my village if this rumor is true."

"I'm assuming this rumor has something to do with one of my Jounin. A certain blond Jounin to be specific." Sarutobi said as he folded his hands on his desk and leaned forward. Onoki nodded and Sarutobi sighed before he leaned back and touched a seal on his desk pushing chakra into it causing it to glow.

Two seconds later, the fastest shinobi alive was suddenly in his office standing in front of his desk at rigid attention with absolutely no signs of how he got there causing Onoki and Kurotsuchi to jump in surprise as Naruto said "You summoned me Lord Hokage?" All hints of playfulness was gone since the Hokage rarely if ever used the Jounin emergency summons seal to just summon him.

"I did Naruto. We have an important guest who is interested in meeting you." Sarutobi said as he gestured behind him even as he activated the security seals around his office now that everyone was there. Naruto paid no attention to the flashing seals having seen them in action before as he turned around but his eyebrow unconsciously rose as he saw who was sitting behind him, or more specifically what the person was wearing and he said "Well this should be interesting. Lord Tsuchikage, I hope you had a pleasant trip?"

"Hmph, as pleasant as can be expected considering the reason for the trip." Onoki said as his eyes narrowed while he studied the blond in front of him.

Naruto nodded before he went to stand behind his village leader as Sarutobi said "Well, now that Naruto is here, What do you say we get this meeting over with so that way we can get to more pleasant things?"

Scene Change: Waterfall 15: Two Hours Later

Naruto left the slipstream in the training ground where his group had unofficially claimed for the month's training with a sigh as he thought 'This is why I hate politics. It was relatively easy enough convincing the Tsuchikage that I had no plans whatsoever to go on a killing spree against his village unless provoked since I really don't, but the members of the Rock Village council are sure to blow everything out of proportion once my heritage is finally revealed to the world. At least now we know that Onoki won't take sides during the invasion if it happens while he's here.'

Shaking his head at how whoever first came up with the idea for village counsels must have been the biggest idiots of the world, Naruto walked over to where his godfather was looking over a couple of experimental seals Naruto had made that he had wanted to know could work. He was sure that Jiraiya would be interested in how the meeting went. And then afterwards he planned on working on a new technique he had thought of during the meeting.

Time Skip: Seven Days To Final

Naruto and Haku watched as Hinata tore through a group of water clones the two boys had made. The tweaking of the Gentle Fist style and Hinata's increase in speed was apparent as she decimated the clones almost as soon as the two could make them. Her hands were a blur to anyone not High Chunin or above and any Hyuga would be staring at their clan heir in shock at how different her fighting style was from their own. Where as most Hyugas' fighting style was stiff and could be considered extremely formal, Hinata was flowing from one strike to another looking like a dancer as she continued fighting.

Jiraiya was standing next to the two originals with a notebook out taking notes that were surprisingly not perverted in nature. He was running a critical eye over Hinata's form as she fought and writing down where she had left an opening more than once. There were surprisingly few notes on his notebook though which was good since the original Gentle Fist could easily be picked apart if you knew the style as well as Jiraiya did from fighting next to Hyugas during the Third Shinobi War.

"She's definitely going to kick some ass during the finals." Naruto said smirking as Hinata spun around slicing through a ring of clones with chakra shooting out of pointer fingers in a thin but long blade.

"You taught her well kid. I just can't wait to see everyone's faces when she lets loose with that presence of hers." Jiraiya said with a smile.

"Indeed. Hinata will do very well against her cousin now that you have made the Gentle Fist style actually fit her own fighting style." Haku said as Hinata took out the last clone.

"Lets just hope we can do as well with what comes after." Naruto said as he looked towards the village with a small frown.

Jiraiya snorted as he said "Trust me, we'll be fine. With the advanced warning we are already preparing for the invasion. And any summons that my old teammate uses to get through the walls will have to deal with the toads first."

Naruto nodded before he walked over to Hinata and said "Good job Hinata. Now I want you to take a break from training for the exams. This doesn't mean I want you to stop training altogether, just enough to keep you in fighting shape. We don't want you worn out before your fight."

"Yes Naruto-sensei." Hinata said as she wiped the sweat from her brow. Jiraiya smirked and began to turn a page in his notebook but a wind senbon ripped straight through the new page while it was still in the air. Jiraiya looked up to see Naruto holding another wind senbon in one hand and pointing somewhere at Jiraiya's body with the other. Right between his legs, to be more specific.

Jiraiya paled and said "I'll behave."

Naruto nodded and let the senbon disperse before he turned back to talk to Hinata some more. Haku meanwhile chuckled before he walked away from the group wanting to get more practice in with his new mirrors.

Time Skip: Seven Days Later: Chunin Exam Stadium

The stadium where the final exam of the Chunin Exams was packed. Nobles and common folk alike had flocked to the village to witness these fights and you'd be extremely hard pressed to find an actual seat as all but one of the contestants stood in a line in front of Naruto. Hundreds, if not thousands of people had placed bets on the outcome of each of the fights that were about to start, but the main topics of conversation were about the Prodigy of the Hyuga clan fighting its clan heir and the 'last Uchiha' fighting against the Kazekage's son.

Naruto looked at the line of Genin and thought 'It's a good thing Uchiha's fight is last. Knowing Uncle Kakashi they're going to be holding out appearing until the last second. Although considering what's going on, and Orochimaru's interest in the brat that might be for the best.'

Up in the booth that was reserved for village leaders and their bodyguards, the Professor sat in his seat waiting for his counterpart from the Land of Wind to come. On his right side, Onoki sat in a seat that had the Rock Village symbol on it while Kurotsuchi stood beside him acting as a body guard. As he looked over the milling crowds, Sarutobi thought 'So many people to see the next generation do their best to knock each other senseless. It really is a wonder how we haven't completely destroyed this world with our violent tendencies.'

The Land of Fire's ninja commander saw white at the corner of his eye and he turned with a smile as he saw his counterpart reach the top of the stairs that led to their booth. Grinning, he said "Greetings Lord Kazekage, I trust your trip here was pleasant?"

"Pleasant enough Lord Hokage, but I must admit, I'm glad the Chunin Exams were held here this year. A trip to the Land of Wind at your age must surely be a difficult task. The same must be true for you as well Lord Tsuchikage."

Onoki humphed and said "You seem to be forgetting who you're talking to Lord Kazekage, this trip for me was nothing."

Sarutobi let out a bark of laughter as he said "And, I'm quite certain I could have made the trip as well. Please don't think about burying me yet, I still have a couple of years left in these old bones."

The Kazekage's eyes narrowed the barest of increments as he said "I'm sure that is quite true old friend. Still, don't you think you should be considering a replacement?"

Onoki became more focused on the conversation even as Sarutobi grinned and said "Perhaps, but we can discuss that after the exam. For now, it's time to start." With the conversation over, Sarutobi stood up from his seat and walked over to the edge of the balcony causing everyone to quiet down when they saw that the Hokage was about to speak.

"Ahem, Ladies and Gentlemen, esteemed guest, wlecome and heartfelt thanks for gathering here in the Village Hindden in the Leaves for the Chunin Selection Exam! We will now begin the matches of the final round between the fourteen candidates who advanced in the preliminaries. Please sit back, and enjoy!"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Sarutobi went back into his seat. As he did, the Kazekage turned his head slightly so that way he could see his counterpart with both eyes and said "Fourteen candidates? It seems your missing one."

Sarutobi humphed and said "I'm sure I have the boy's sensei to thank for that. But don't worry, I've taken steps to make sure he gets here in time." 'Wonder what those were?'

Onoki humphed again and said "Any brat who doesn't show up on time doesn't deserve to be promoted regardless of who his sensei is or if the kid has some bloodline limit. If a shinobi is unreliable he or she shouldn't be put into a position of power."

Sarutobi hmmed but didn't say anything.

Down in the arena, Naruto turned around and took out a folded piece of paper and unfolded it as he said "This is really just a formality since I'm sure none of you are dumb enough to actually forget who you're going to be fighting. However, if you need to make sure when your fight is, now is the time." He allowed the Genin a moment to confirm when their matches would be before he folded the paper and put it back into his vest as he said "Now, listen up, this is the last exam, so make sure you give the best showing you can. Out here, your not only representing your team, your representing your village as well in front of hundreds of potential clients. Make sure you keep that in mind during your fights. That said, the landscape here may be different, but just with the preliminaries, there are no set rules except that you fight until one of you dies or admits defeat, unless I determine that a clear winner has already been decided, in which case I'll stop the fight. Everyone understand?"

He got nods from most of the Genin so Naruto nodded to himself as well and said "All right then, Hinata and Neji Hyuga, you two are starting us off. The rest of you proceed to the waiting room outside the arena."

Once all of the nonparticipants of the first match had cleared the arena, Naruto held up a hand and said "First round of the Chunin Exams, Neji Hyuga, are you ready?" When Neji nodded, Naruto said "Hinata Hyuga, are you ready?" Getting a second nod, Naruto's hand flashed down as he said "Then you may begin!"

AN: Not very satisfied with this one but I felt I had spent enough time trying to make it work. I'm planning on putting the entire exam in one chapter like I usually do so that might take a while.


	16. Chunin Exams Final Roar Of A Tiger

16. Chunin Exams Final: Roar Of A Tiger

AN: I'm sorry this took so long. Truth is, I hate most of it but trying to scrap it and rewrite it would just take even longer, so I'm just going to post this. Also, like before, besides two very obvious match ups, all of these fights were chosen by my brother who knows nothing about Naruto. I had too many variables and differences to do cannon even if I wanted to and that's as random as I can get people.

Story Start: Chunin Exam Stadium

Naruto held up a hand and said "First round of the Chunin Exams, Neji Hyuga, are you ready?" When Neji nodded, Naruto said "Hinata Hyuga, are you ready?" Getting a second nod, Naruto's hand flashed down as he said "Then you may begin!"

Naruto took a chakra enhanced jump back as the two Hyugas stared at each other. Hinata automatically went into her stance but Neji remained in a casual position. He frowned at the stance Hinata took since it was a little different than the Gentle Fist beginner stance although it turns out he was frowning for another reason as well when he said "Lady Hinata, a word of advice before we fight. You're not cut out to be a shinobi. You should forfeit."

Hinata blinked but before she could ask what her cousin was going on about, Neji continued "You're all sweetness and light, a peacemaker, not a troublemaker. You're easily led, not a leader. And you have no self-confidence. You've got a world class inferiority complex, so I know you'd have been more comfortable and content staying at the Genin level. But applicants for the higher level Chunin selection exam must compete as a trio, and you couldn't bear to let your teammates down. The truth is, your participation has been reluctant from the start, hasn't it? You're the sheltered little baby of the Main Branch, aren't you? You have no self confidence and everyone is forced to go out of their way to protect you. Face it, you are a failure, and a failure always fails. A leopard doesn't change its spots, and your weak personality will never become strong. "

Hinata frowned as she thought 'Brave?'

'Yeah Hinata?' Her fighting spirit asked.

"Let's show my cousin how wrong he is.'

'With pleasure!'

Hinata's coat flashed green before she blurred at Neji whose eyes widened before he hastily deflected Hinata's palm strike from his chest but wasn't ready for the foot that came and sent him skidding as Hinata connected with Neji's left ribs. As Neji skidded to the side, his eyes widened as he saw his cousin use the momentum of the kick to turn towards him even as she pushed off with her left foot. She landed right in front of Neji who had stopped skidding and launched a retaliatory strike at her chest only for Hinata's own palm strike that she had sent out as soon as her feet touched the ground to hit it exactly dead center. The hit should have jarred Hinata's shoulder but she instantly bent her elbow and spun into Neji's guard and slammed her elbow into his face blowing him back from the condensed chakra she had put into the strike that mimicked the Gale Palm Jutsu.

As she turned to face her cousin again and fell back into her starting stance Hinata's lips quirked as she said "Tell me Neji, if I didn't want to be here, then why didn't I drop out when I had the chance to during the preliminaries. Also, I think you'll find that I'm more of a tiger person than a leopard. As for never changing my spots or in my case, stripes, people change them almost everyday as new experiences change what define us."

Neji growled as he got back to his feet and said "Foolish philosophical talk from a person who tries to deny their fate! You are bound to lose today and remain a failure Lady Hinata. That is your fate, and it shall always be your fate."

Chuckling from their proctor caused Neji to snap his head over to Naruto as the blond said "Oh, you have no idea how wrong you are on that count."

Neji opened his mouth to reply but suddenly found his mouth slammed shut as Hinata appeared in front of him and jumped up sending her right chakra coated foot crashing into Neji's chin. The force of Hinata's kick forced Neji's head back even as his body lifted to the same height and Hinata took advantage of that fact as she slammed a chakra infused palm strike into his stomach where the primary chakra coils started.

Neji was sent flying back and landed hard on his back while Hinata landed with the grace of a ballerina who had just performed a jump as part of her dance. Neji quickly got to his feet and used his chakra to unseal the Tenketsu that Hinata's strike had closed. Growling at his cousin's apparent luck since neither had activated their Byakugan yet, he snarled out "Congratulations Lady Hinata, I thought you were too soft hearted to take advantage of a person's distraction that way. But now it gets serious!"

Neji's Byakugan blazed into existence as he rushed his cousin who settled into her own stance and her coat suddenly turned yellow and markings that looked like spectacles appeared around her eyes. Neji briefly wondered what happened to his cousin but put that thought to the side as he concentrated on beating her to a pulp. Those plans were put on hold by Hinata herself though as she began dancing around Neji's strikes almost before he could launch them. And to make things worse, she hadn't even activated her own Byakugan yet.

Up in the stands, Hiashi sat next to his youngest daughter as well as other members of the Hyuga clan including all of the elder council. Hiashi frowned as he saw his eldest daughter's coat change color and markings appeared around her eyes. 'Is this her presence? I thought it was supposed to resemble a tiger.' Hiashi thought. His frown lightened slightly as Hinata began dodging her cousin's attacks while making it seem easy as she did so. And without her Byakugan either.

"It seems that Uzumaki has trained her well." Said Himobi, one of the eldest members of the council. The other elders nodded to the old woman's words although another frowned and said "Still, an outsider training our clan heir for this match does not sit well with me."

"Nor with me, but we really had no choice." Another elder said.

Hanabi frowned as the elders talked to themselves. Back in her academy days, her sister had seemed so weak. But now, she seemed to be easily holding her own against her cousin who was called a prodigy. Perhaps she should ask this Uzumaki person for training when she finished learning the Gentle Fist style. It wouldn't hurt to get the same training as her sister.

She was brought out of her thoughts when her sister's coat suddenly switched from yellow to green and Hinata went from dodging Neji's strikes to laying into him with a furious onslaught.

Back in the arena, Hinata dodged a palm strike that was aimed for her shoulder and thought 'I think we've got him mad enough, don't you?'

'Yeah, lets really put him to the test!' No question about who had sent that thought.

Hinata's coat switched colors from yellow to green and the markings around her eyes disappeared in favor for her activated Byakugan. Neji had a split second after the fact to take note of the changes before Hinata disengaged her resistance seal and shot at him with speeds that were easily double what she had been moving at in the beginning of the fight. As Hinata began landing blow after blow on his arms Neji was forced to backpedal to keep her from hitting his chest. That only worked for about twenty seconds though as Hinata suddenly seemed to disappear from his vision for a fraction of a second and he felt a painful strike land on his back. Gritting his teeth, Neji thought 'I didn't want to show this so soon but it seems I have no choice. I cannot believe she has forced me to use this!'

Neji suddenly began spinning forcing chakra out of his Tenketsu as he shouted "Rotation!" A spinning dome of chakra that flickered due to his closed Tenketsu shot out of his body throwing Hinata back before she back flipped and landed on her feet skidding. When she stopped, her eyes widened slightly at the sight of a very shallow but wide crater that had formed around her cousin.

"You learned Rotation?" Hinata asked with a raised eyebrow. She knew her cousin was a genius so it didn't surprise her that he could, more like that he was able to do it before he turned fifteen. Inside her head, Knowledge was going into overdrive trying to figure out how to get past the Hyuga's so called "Ultimate Defense".

Neji had a smug smirk on his face as he unlocked his blocked Tenketsu and said "Surprised that a lowly Branch member could figure it out? This only proves that it is your fate to lose to me today."

Up in the stands, all of the elders and Hiashi were stunned that Neji was able to learn a Main branch technique seemingly by himself. Hinata however was more focused on getting through the technique than wondering how he learned it.

'You're going to have to slice through it. Your Chakra Wave jutsu should suffice if you sharpen the edge enough.' Knowledge said.

'That could work, but I don't want to slice him to pieces as well.' Hinata thought back.

'He would deserve it for all of this crap abut fate he keeps throwing out of his mouth.' Rude said before Hinata heard him shout in pain.

'We do not maim or otherwise do permanent and/or major harm to family members, no matter how much they annoy us. We are better than that.' That was Hinata's 'Deadly Sin' aspect talking as it channeled her pride.

'Yeah, it's not nice!' Happy said adding her two cents.

'I say she just lets us out along with Whitey over here and we mess with his head a bit.' Rage thought with an evil chuckle.

Hinata cocked her head to the side as all of her aspects shouted 'YEAH!' 'Atori?' Hinata asked.

'Hm, could work. And the others could use the exercise.'

'HEY!'

Hinata winced at the eight shouts but nodded her head and looked back at Neji who was running towards her. The conversation in her head had taken a little under ten seconds but it seems that Neji was being a little impatient. Grinning, Hinata said "Hey Neji, want to know why I said I'm more of a tiger person?"

Nine tigers of different colors suddenly fazed into existence in a row in front of Hinata causing Neji's eyes to widen. He was so surprised that he didn't even notice that only one tiger wasn't semi transparent. All nine tigers grinned (even if one was timidly) before they opened their mouths and let loose with roars that shook the stadium.

"**RRRAAAAWRAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRR!**"

The roars of nine fully grown tigers practically right in front of you is enough to make your ears ring if not make you deaf. To make matters worse for Neji, a shockwave shot out of the pure white tiger's mouth from where it was standing protectively in front of Hinata in the center of the line. The shockwave slammed into Neji and sent him flying a good fifteen feet before he landed skidding as he held his ears.

Up in the stands, everyone also had clapped their ears as the nine simultaneous roars ripped through the air making their eardrums rattle. In the Hyuga section Hanabi was staring at the pure white tiger in shock since she had already noticed that it seemed more real than the other eight. She could hear the elders talking to themselves in an excited manner while her father had an unidentifiable look on his face as he studied the results of a month of training under someone who knew how to manifest the effects of their presence.

Up in the Kage booth, Sarutobi had a grin on his face at the sight of nine tigers standing in front of the Hyuga clan heir. From his right, Onoki gave a low whistle as he said "That's some presence the girl has. And to think, it appears that one of those tigers is actually physically there as well."

"Indeed. Being able to manipulate one's presence is an extremely rare and useful skill to have. I do not believe I have ever heard of a physical manifestation of someone's presence though." The Kazekage said as he leaned forward slightly in obvious interest.

Sarutobi's grin grew as he said "Indeed. She was trained by one of my best who knows how to use his own presence for the month but I never imagined he would be able to do such a good job with the time constraints they had."

Back in the arena, Neji was just getting up as he stared at the nine tigers in front of him. His Byakugan clearly showed them being there but he didn't see any chakra so it wasn't a Genjutsu. But because there was no chakra in them, his brain couldn't come to terms with the fact that they were actually there. He was brought out of his thoughts when Hinata allowed herself a grin as she said "Have fun guys."

She received four grins in response as Brave, Knowledge, Arrogance, and Rage launched themselves from their positions in the line and ran at Neji. Neji prepared himself to defend but was momentarily caught off guard as the green and red tiger put on a burst of speed and rushed around him to form a circle before the two turned and in perfect synchronism with the yellow and lavender tigers rushed him from all four sides at once.

As soon as they were in range Neji started spinning forming the chakra dome a second time. But to his surprise, all four tigers passed through the dome like it wasn't even there before they leapt at him. Neji's eyes widened but then the tigers passed straight through him before landing on the opposite sides of where they started.

Neji blinked before he started laughing. Looking at his cousin he said "This is the best you can do? I was actually worried for a moment, but this just makes it even more clear to me that you will never be nothing but a failure!"

Hinata rose an eyebrow while Atori began growling. Suddenly, the other eight tigers seemed to faze out of existence and his once pure white fur began flashing the eight different colors as he reabsorbed the parts of Hinata's aspects that the girl had helped him manifest. His fur then shifted back to white as his eyes turned from regular storm grey to pupil less lavender eyes and the veins around said eyes suddenly bulged as a Byakugan blazed into existence.

Neji had exactly two seconds to get over his shock before Atori let loose a roar, this time without the shockwave, and began running at him. Neji smirked and took a casual stance obviously expecting this tiger to pass straight through him as well. What he hadn't noticed was that while the first four tigers hadn't left any footprints, the mass of fur, muscle and teeth that was currently charging at him was leaving footprints with every step it took. Atori reached Neji's form in seconds and he suddenly reared up and let loose with another roar as he swung his right front paw and slammed it into Neji's face earning wide eyes from everyone in the stadium besides Naruto and Hinata as Neji was sent flying a good twenty five feet away by the blow. He was lucky that Atori didn't use his claws or else his face would be a mess of cuts right now instead of just having a massive bruise forming and he would probably be short one eye as well.

But Neji's problems weren't over as Hinata was suddenly right next to him with her leg raised parallel with her back and her foot coated in chakra. Hinata let loose with her axe kick and Neji had to quickly roll to the side to avoid both it and contributing to the crater that formed when her foot hit the ground. Neji tried to strike at Hinata's legs from his position only for Hinata to hop over the strike and slash her arm down. A thin laser like beam of chakra suddenly shot out of her pointer finger and Neji screamed in pain as the beam sliced along the arm burning the skin. If Hinata hadn't toned the focus of the beam down, it would have gone straight through skin and bone. As it was, it left a large burn along the entire length of Neji's right arm. Hinata landed and dropped into a crouch as she slammed a chakra infused palm into Neji's stomach, hitting one of the ten pressure points that Naruto had told her about over the month sending even more pain into Neji's form as he instinctively curled in on himself. When Neji was finally able to get over the pain, he felt a kunai resting against his jugular and saw the tiger standing over his form with its mouth open as if it was just waiting for the command to take a chunk out of his face.

"Yield Neji. You have lost this match." Hinata said calmly.

Neji gritted his teeth before he rose his right hand and said "Proctor, I forfeit."

Naruto nodded and said "Neji Hyuga has forfeited, therefore Hinata Hyuga is the winner."

The crowd erupted in cheers as Hinata put away her kunai and held a hand out for Neji to take. Neji though scowled and swatted it away as he stood on his own and began making his way to the balcony where everyone else participating in the exams were. Hinata frowned before she said "Neji, use this fight as a lesson. We make our own fates, and we're not bound to some predetermined destiny."

Neji's form paused for the briefest of seconds before he kept moving causing Hinata to sigh. By her side, Atori snorted and said "That kid needs some serious therapy."

Hinata shot Atori a look that obviously said she wasn't amused and Atori quickly apologized before he fazed out of existence. Naruto walked over and said in a low voice "Well done my apprentice." Hinata blushed as Naruto continued in a louder voice "Now if you'd please head back to the balcony so that we can get the second fight done."

Hinata nodded and began walking towards the tunnel her cousin had taken. As she did so, Naruto took his position in the center of the field and said "Will Shino Aburame and Rico Uzumaki please come down for their fight."

Rico and Shino both turned from their spots on the balcony and began walking towards the stairs. Naruto only had to wait a minute before he saw both boys come walking out of the tunnel. As he waited, he looked up at the Kage booth and saw the three village leaders talking about the last match. Naruto smiled as he was able to read the words likely and promoted off of the Tsushikage's lips. If the leader of the village that was the Hidden Leaf's primary enemy during the last war thought one of their ninja did good then that really said something about that person. Naruto just hoped that they were talking about Hinata.

He brought his attention back to his immediate surroundings as Shino and Rico took their positions in front of him. Looking at the two, he saw that Shino was as stoic as ever while Rico was standing as tense as a coiled spring ready to be unleashed. Smirking at that thought, Naruto said "Are you two ready?" Getting a nod and a monotone "Yes." from Shino and another nod and a much more lively "You know it." from Rico, Naruto rose his hand and said "Then second round, Begin!"

Naruto slashed his hand down and took a chakra laced jump to give the two some space for their fight. As soon as Naruto's hand fell down, Sparks began appearing all over Rico's body as he said "Just a friendly warning before we start. I wouldn't try to use your bugs to drain my chakra if I were you. I spent most of this month learning how to become a living bug zapper."

"I appreciate the warning, even if it is not very shinobi like of you to do so." Shino said in a monotone voice as he adjusted his sunglasses. The slight insult seemed to just wash over Rico as the two continued to stare at each other for a moment before Rico took a huge chakra laced jump back even as he blitzed through hand signs. Landing on the ground, he calmly said 'Lightning Style: Lightning Kunai Jutsu!" Eight kunai formed in his hands and he began throwing them one at a time at Shino who took a single jump back before he began back flipping with one hand to avoid them. (Think how he jumps backward in Naruto Storm Generation.) It wasn't that hard since Rico was only making even more distance between the two than his jump had made. That became obvious to Shino as Rico began a long chain of hand seals before he stopped on the common Lighting hand sign and said "Lightning Style: Lightning Wave Jutsu!" The sparks around Rico's body suddenly began multiplying like crazy before a literal wave of electricity shot out of his body expanding the further it went. By the time it reached Shino's form thirty feet away, the wave of electricity was easily twenty feet wide and fifteen feet tall.

The wave rushed at Shino at speeds no Genin should be able to avoid. But before it could zap Shino into unconsciousness like Rico had optimistically hoped, Shino vanished in a whirlwind of beetles before he reappeared to Rico's right breathing at a slightly faster pace than normal. Rico allowed the wave to sizzle out as he rose an eyebrow in appreciation and said "You've learned how to shunshin at our early age? And you've even managed to adapt it to better represent who you are. Well color me impressed."

"Thank you. I thought it prudent to learn this technique considering what you showed during the preliminaries since I had no way of knowing if there would be sufficient objects to replace myself with." Shino replied in his usual stoic voice.

Rico's head raised a bit along with his eyebrows as he h'mmed before his Katars were suddenly out with wind circling around him before he spun in a circle while slashing first his right Katar at Shino and then his left. As the blades were swung, the circling winds shot towards Shino's form like miniature Horizontal Tornado jutsu. The two wind vortexes rushed at Shino twice as fast as his Lightning Wave jutsu and slammed into Shino's body, only for said bug user to suddenly explode into hundreds of bugs that took to the air. Turning his head to look behind him, Rico said "I have to say that I'm even more impressed that you could make a clone of yours form that far away from you and having it seem to be the real you by seeming to appear in a shunshin as well."

Shino stepped out of the nearby woods that was part of their arena and said "Your observation skills are rather good. That clone was supposed to fool you for a bit longer."

Rico h'mmed again before he shot at Shino's form with his Katars already in position to hit him in the elbows. Shino quickly hopped backwards not wanting to risk blocking with kunai since Rico was still sparking. He couldn't afford to be distracted by any kind of electrical shock. Rico followed his opponent into the woods before Shino was suddenly covered in smoke and a log dropped down to the ground.

'Damn, I just let him lead me to right where he wanted me to go.' Rico thought as he looked around the woods trying to find his opponent. Not an easy task when the guy could make his coat blend in well with the surrounding bark of the tree by having his insects cover it in certain patterns. As he swiveled his head to search, Rico activated his Katars splitting function and began coating them in wind extending both their sharpness and reach. This would allow him to react faster to any threats as well as help make Shino think twice about trying to get close enough to engage him in close range. The sparks around him would keep the bugs away, now he had a fly swatter for the human as well. He was brought from his musings as he heard the sound of metal flying through the air coming from both of his sides. Rico flicked his Katars and sparks flew before the two kunai landed in the ground as Rico suddenly ducked to avoid the weighted end of a chain that had a five pound ball attached to the end. Looking at where the chain came from, he saw Shino holding the other end with rubber gloves on his hands.

Rico rose an eyebrow and said "Interesting weapon. I was under the impression that you Aburame don't use any weapons other than kunai since you rely mostly on your bugs to help. And why do you have rubber gloves with you? Are you planning on scrubbing the kitchen floor when you are done with this fight?"

"It would not be wise to get close to you while you have those weapons of yours. So I learned how to use the chain during this month. As for the gloves, I always keep them with me in case I fight an opponent like you. Do not fool yourself into thinking that you are the first shinobi with the Lightning element to think of constantly channeling it to keep our bugs at bay."

Rico h'mmed at that before he said "Yeah well, I bet I'm the first shinobi you'll see do this." 'Using this is way overkill. But it seems that he has counters for everything else so I'm going to have to do it to really put him on defense.' Rico's katars were quickly sheathed as he began running through hand signs, as he said "There's a reason why I'm called the Thunderstorm by my friends, that is true, what's not true is it's just because of my third element. It's because of my combining of the three." Stopping on one that was unfamiliar to the Aburame, Rico shouted "Storm Style: Raging Hurricane Jutsu!"

Rico's chakra skyrocketed as it became visible making the Whirlpool nin look like he was in a blazing bonfire. The chakra then shot into the air and began spreading out as it began manipulating the air around it drawing all of the moisture together to form storm clouds and also drawing all of the static electricity in the air into the clouds causing them to spark. The clouds began spinning, merging into each other until there was just one mass of clouds that covered the arena with an eye forming in the center of the cloud mass.

Up in the stands, Tsunami frowned as she thought 'Why are you using that technique Rico? Do you really think you need the extra edge that comes with it?'

In the participant's balcony, both Reina and Rachel sighed when they saw the clouds form beneath them as Rachel said "There he goes again, blowing everything completely out of proportion."

Reina frowned and said "Yeah, but for him to go this far and use his ace, how frustrated is he with his opponent? I wish we could see what's happening in those woods properly. For him to use something like this in an exam, especially so soon, his opponent must be either really good or really frustrating."

"Or both. I've heard that the members of the Aburame clan are almost as good tacticians as the Nara clan." Rachel said.

Most of the other participants looked at the two with incredulous looks at how casually they were talking about their teammate forming a typhoon out of thin air.

Back in the woods, Shino frowned as he looked up at the clouds that had formed through the branches of the trees. Looking back down as lightning flashed inside the clouds, he said "While it is certainly impressive that you can do so, I do not believe the situation you find yourself in requires the need to make an artificial Hurricane. Unless you plan to use the rain that I am sure is to come and the lightning within to try and electrocute me. However, even that seems excessive."

Rico grinned as the clouds suddenly started spinning faster gaining speeds of a real class one hurricane and rain began to pour down as he said "While it's true that you can use this jutsu that way, trying to be that accurate with the lightning is practically impossible without a level of chakra control that I am no where near possessing. So I'm going to keep the lightning in the clouds instead where they can add to the storms power. No, what I'm using this for is for the other two elements. Now let's see how you fight when even the weather is against you!"

As if Rico's words were the cue, the clouds began spinning even faster as the lightning inside added more heat. The rain began falling down in sheets that severely limited one's vision and the wind picked up enough to make the trees groan as the storm's rotating force was kicked into high gear. Shino felt his feet beginning to leave the ground and quickly applied chakra to his feet to be kept from blowing away. That soon became a secondary worry though as Rico launched himself at Shino using the wind at his back to augment his speed.

Shino could barely make out the vague form of his opponent as the rain hindered his sight which was already hindered by his sunglasses. The fact that the wind made the rain almost literally dance in the air before it hit the ground wasn't helping either. When Rico rushed him, Shino had exactly two seconds to bring his chain up between both hands and block the sparking fist. However, this left him open to Rico's simultaneous kick that landed unhindered against Shino's right side sending shocks of electricity through the bug user's body. The shocks were no where near lethal but they did the job in making Shino lose his focus and Rico began laying into Shino causing him to be shocked even more times. Shino tried to fight back but the rain made it hard to see and the wind hard to move. And his concentration was constantly broken by the small electrical shocks he was receiving. And the sound of the trees groaning as they were pushed around by the wind didn't help in that department either.

Up in the stands, no one could see anything besides Naruto with a visible shell of chakra that surrounded him as he stood in the eye of the miniature hurricane with his eyes closed. Anyone who had worked with the blond could recognize the signs of the blond using his chakra viewing technique since his chakra filled the entire eye and most assumed that it went further underneath the clouds. There were murmurs as everyone commented on the glimpses of the storm they could see under the clouds at the opposite side of the eye that they were sitting and the multiple flashes of lightning that continued going off in the clouds. The Kages were using the time to talk about if creating a Hurricane could be seen as being too impatient or if it was a viable strategy if used right. Five minutes later there was finally a break from the lack of nothing to see as Naruto's chakra suddenly dissipated and he took a step to the side as the battered and bruised form of Shino suddenly landed on the ground not five feet beside him and rolled once before he got to his legs shakily trying to recover from the extremely strong kick that Rico had just landed on his chest.

Said whirlpool nin shot into the eye already in a jump before he slammed his fist into Shino's jaw sending the Aburame to the floor again. This time Shino remained unmoving and Rico sighed before he squeezed the water out of his hair. He then made two hand signs and everyone saw the storm begin to rapidly dissipate. Within a minute the storm clouds were gone and the sun was shining into the arena revealing that most of the trees had began to bend in sharp angles in one direction and a few of the thinner ones were actually cracked. There was also a large amount of small puddles spread throughout the arena.

Naruto quickly took a few steps and crouched to check on the Aburame. Seeing that he wasn't in need of emergency attention, he took a moment to observe the small electrical burns that covered his body. 'Rico wasn't messing around.' Naruto thought before he stood back up and said "Shino Aburame is unconscious, winner: Rico Uzumaki." The crowd cheered and Rico gave them a wave as he began walking to the tunnel.

As he passed Naruto, the blond said in a low voice "A little extreme don't you think?"

Rico Tched as he said "The guy had counters for everything else I could use. I needed to be able to get close without him being able to counter properly."

"So you used the storm." Naruto stated already knowing everything that had happened in the woods. Rico nodded and continued on his way while the medics passed and began carrying Shino after him. Looking towards the participant balcony, he said "Misumi Tsurugi, Rock Lee, will you two please come down for your match."

Everyone heard a "Yosh! Time to show my flames of youth!" before a green blur shot out of the balcony and landed on the ground fifty feet from Naruto before it was suddenly beside the blond and turned into Lee who began doing stretches as he waited for his more sane opponent to take the normal way down. Naruto had to let a little chuckle out at Lee's enthusiasm as the two waited for Misumi to join them which thankfully for Naruto's sake only took about a minute.

Once both were in front of him, Naruto said "Fighters ready?"

"YOSH!" (No question of who said that.)

"Yes." Misumi said.

Naruto nodded and slashed his hand down as he jumped back and said "Third round begin!"

The fight, if you could call what happened next a fight, was short and brutal. Lee shot forward and slammed his fist into Misumi's chest. Misumi folded in on himself before he took a rising kick to his chin and was sent upward while Lee jumped after him. As soon as Misumi stopped rising, a flipping Lee was in front of him before he was hit by Lee's axe kick. The one-without-spandex slammed into the ground and created a half foot deep crater with his impact. Lee landed and immediately took a ready stance even as Naruto appeared right next to his opponent already in a crouch with his fingers checking his pulse. He was relieved to feel one although when he saw Misumi's eyes he figured the guy would be out for a while considering the hollow look in them. Standing back up, he said "Misumi is unconscious. Winner, Lee. Medics."

Hesitant clapping came from the audience as they tried to come to terms with the fact that the fight barely lasted ten seconds. Lee mean while was running around like a chicken with his head cut off doing a victory dance as he shouted to his sensei that he did it and said sensei shouted back how proud he was of his student's flames of youth. Naruto gained a tick mark after this continued for a full two minutes, by which time the medics had already came and left with the unconscious Misumi. Using the Big Head jutsu that Iruka had taught him, Naruto shouted **"GET OFF MY FIELD!"** Lee 'eeped' and ran in the direction of the tunnel that Naruto was pointing at.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village Academy: Running Track

Konohamaru's class was currently running laps around the academy's track while Iruka watched them when they suddenly heard a far off voice shout **"GET OFF MY FIELD!"** causing all of the kids to look in that direction wondering what was going on.

Iruka smirked as he recognized the volume of the shout and thought 'Ah, a true masterpiece of the art of getting people's attention. I was wondering when Naruto would use my jutsu.'

Scene Change: Chunin Stadium

Naruto sighed as he passed a hand through his hair before he looked at where the rest of the exam takers were waiting for their turn and said "Will Reina Uzumaki and Shikamaru please come down."

Up on the balcony, Shikamaru sighed and said "Troublesome. Why do I have to fight a girl?"

Reina frowned at Shikamaru and said "Because we were randomly chosen to fight each other. Now get moving sloth or I'll throw you down there." The guy had proven to be extremely lazy and Reina wanted to teach the guy a lesson for complaining about having to fight a girl.

Shikamaru sighed as he gave a muttered "Troublesome." He then turned and began walking towards the nearby stairs. Reina walked right behind him to make sure he actually got in front of Naruto before the sun set. Once they were in front of him, Naruto said "Fighters ready?" Reina nodded and said "Yes." Shikamaru muttered a troublesome before he nodded as well. Naruto also nodded as he said "Fourth Round Begin!"

Naruto disappeared not wanting to be anywhere near Reina in case she decided to start things off with a metaphorical bang. His precautions were a good thing as Reina jumped back as she blitzed through hand signs before she shouted "Water Style: Thousand Needles Jutsu!" When she landed, the water in the puddles surrounding her bulged before needles shot out of the puddles towards Shikamaru in a crossfire.

Shikamaru cursed and instantly leapt back into a back flip as he began putting as much distance between him and those needles. As soon as he came out of the back flip he did a handless cartwheel to the side before doing another back flip. He continued to do this as he made a zigzag pattern to the arena wall and then began flipping up it as the justu shot exactly a thousand needles at him. The jutsu finally ran out when Shikamaru had reached a point about five feet from the top of the wall and had gone full circle around the rim. He was slightly panting since he hadn't expected the jutsu to last so long. It had easily shot ten or twenty needles for the first few groups but after that it had been just one needle after another. As soon as the jutsu ended all of the water senbon suddenly dispersed and the water fell back to the ground. Shikamaru breathed a sigh of relief as he continued to catch his breath. Just dodging his opponent's opening jutsu had left him almost as tired as one of his teacher's evasion training sessions. The only difference was that Asuma used wind senbon instead of water and hadn't sent them all at him one after another without any breaks like that.

Reina meanwhile was considering her situation as she looked up at the Nara clan heir. Thanks to her technique, there was no way Shikamaru's shadow could now reach her due to both the distance and the fact that he was on the part of the wall that the sun was shining fully on. As long as she was able to keep him at that distance she should be fine. The problem with that was that she didn't have many long range jutsu that she was confident would hit him without doing massive amounts of damage to the wall that could potentially harm the audience due to flying debris. As an Uzumaki, Reina was naturally a predominately Ninjutsu specialist. That meant that most of her jutsu were the kind you'd expect from a Jinchuriki since she had enough chakra to launch Water Dragons almost all day without getting tired. But she couldn't use such destructive techniques when they would tear huge chunks out of the wall even if they didn't miss their target. Reina sighed at her apparent lack of ability to use jutsu anymore before she reached into her kunai pouch.

Up in the Kage booth, Onoki studied the situation with a critical eye as he said "It was smart of her to drive the kid as far away from her as possible, but now she has to deal with that distance between them."

"I'm sure that she will figure out a way. After all, the Uzumakis in Bangal wouldn't have sent her team to the elemental nations if they weren't confident in each of their abilities." Sarutobi said.

The two other Kages blinked before both turned to their counterpart and Onoki said "Bangal? I've never heard of a place called that before. Where is it? You make it sound like it's not part of the continent."

Sarutobi chuckled and said "That's because it's not. It's actually a port city on the continent to the east of us."

Both Kages frowned as the Kazekage said "There is another continent? I thought ours was the only one since it's a super continent. "

Sarutobi just chuckled and continued watching the fight.

Reina meanwhile took out a scroll and unsealed what looked like a cross bow with out the bow string. Everyone began muttering to themselves wondering what she was going to do with a weapon that didn't have one of the most important things that made it work. But then she pulled the tanto that she always kept strapped to her back over her right shoulder out and placed it into the slot where crossbow bolts usually went. Reina pushed down on the tanto and all of the shinobi in the arena heard a faint click as the tanto snapped into place in a hollowed out hole. Shikamaru looked down at the girl trying to figure out what the troublesome redhead was up to. He got his answer when a bow string of chakra suddenly stretched across the bow part of the weapon and stretched back. Once the weapon was cocked, a chakra image of Reina's tanto was suddenly in front of the bowstring fully notched due to the odd indent in her tanto's handle. Then Reina took aim and fired sending the chakra tanto flying at Shikamaru who quickly had to dodge the speeding projectile that had easily triple the speed a thrown kunai should have.

Shikamaru stared at the blade's hilt that was the only thing still visible. Then the chakra sword burst apart into chakra's more natural gas like form and dispersed into the air leaving a hole easily a foot deep. He was snapped out of his look of fascination and slight fear as Reina shouted "Eyes up Nara!" Shikamaru's head snapped back to Reina's form just in time to see her snap off five more shots within a second of each other creating a nice spread with the first sword in the middle of a square that the other blades formed. Shikamaru cursed before he quickly jumped to the side and stuck to the wall again as the swords shot into the wall not two feet from him. Shikamaru cursed again as it became extremely obvious that he did not have enough maneuverability up here since he had to contend with gravity all the time.

Up in the Kage Booth, the Kazekage was looking at Reina's weapon in obvious interest as he said "A very interesting weapon. Obviously it has seals to allow the weapon to make a bow string out of chakra as well as chakra copies of her close range weapon. And it appears that it has quite the penetration power as well."

"Hm, and if I'm not mistaken, she's using wind chakra for the ammunition as well." Onoki said.

Reina meanwhile had cocked her weapon again and had began taking pot shots at Shikamaru while making sure that she kept him away from the shadows that were on the wall. This kept up for another seven or eight minutes before Reina appeared to get bored. She lowered her crossbow making Shikamaru breath a sigh of relief as he crouched before he saw her take out the scroll again and used another seal that held what looked like a small telescope. Rachel then attached the scope to the crossbow stock and then unsealed another attachment which extended said stock. Reina placed the stock against her shoulder so that she could look through the spy glass even as she pushed a button on the telescope. Shikamaru was confused at this before he noticed out of the bottom of his eyes a red dot that was just above his bent knee. Shikamaru's eyes widened before another chakra tanto nearly took his knee off. It would have too if he hadn't moved as soon as he saw the dot. Shikamaru cursed as this just got a lot harder since before Reena's aim was affected by the distance. Now she had a counter and was sniping him instead of just trying to get a lucky hit.

To anybody who knew the Nara clan, it was obvious that Reina was keeping her opponent on his toes so that way he couldn't come up with a plan to fight her. It seemed to work for another four minutes before Shikamaru suddenly threw out two kunai with balls attached to their ends which exploded in bright light that mimicked a thousand candles once the kunai were thirty feet away from him. Everyone's eyes snapped shut in pain, and when they could finally open their eyes again, they saw that Shikamaru had disappeared.

Reina frowned when she saw that her opponent had managed to give her the slip. Looking at the opposite end of the wall showed that he wasn't there preparing to use the wall's shadow to augment his own. Which left the choices of either him being underground in order to get closer or in the forest that was on the same side as the dark wall trying to come up with a plan.

Reina sighed as she flicked a lever on the side of her crossbow that read single fire on the top, semi automatic in the middle, and automatic on the bottom. 'I hate having to use these. They're such a drain on my chakra.' With her weapon on fully automatic, Reina aimed at one side of the woods and held down the trigger as her weapon began spitting out one tanto right after the other not even bothering resetting the bow string which had disappeared because a completely different launching system was being used thanks to seals. Reina swept the weapon across the woods tearing it apart before she reached the end and flipped the weapon back to single fire and popped the tanto out of its slot before she broke the crossbow apart and put all of its parts into their proper seals.

As she was doing this, most of the audience had their jaws on the floor as they all collectively thought 'What the hell?' Hearing people asking just what kind of weapon her niece was using, Tsunami chuckled and thought 'Ah, the wonders of seals. Of course, being able to learn how firearms work certainly helped when Elder Tanos was making it for her. I swear, that man could build a super laser that could destroy the moon if he wanted to. Good thing he's more of a professional gun expert than a mad scientist.'

Up in the Kage booth, Onoki and the Kazekage were drooling at such a weapon, literally, Sarutobi could actually see the Kazekage's veil dampening. Chuckling, he said "Impressive isn't it? Too bad it's more greedy than an Akimichi who hasn't eaten for a week when it comes to using chakra in that mode."

The two Kages looked at him as if he had just brutally murdered a thousand puppies in front of them.

"B-But I want one!" The Kazekage whimpered in a low voice that Sarutobi managed to still hear due to the fact that he was sitting next to him and had sharp ears. This caused Sarutobi to give a belly laugh before he said "You'll have to ask their Jounin sensei if she can replicate it then." 'Although I doubt she'd agree considering who's asking and what's going to happen after all this.'

While the two foreign Kages were drooling like kids in a candy store, (something which was widely copied by other ninja in the audience including one weapon using girl with buns in her hair who had stars in her eyes and sparkles surrounding her head as she drooled at the weapon.) Reina had sheathed her tanto and was now going through hand signs before she stomped her foot on the ground and said "Earth Style: Earth's Tremble Jutsu!" The Earth jutsu took a lot more chakra since it wasn't one of her natural elements but it could be said that the results were well worth it as the ground shook strongly once and cracks formed before the ground uplifted itself in huge chunks. (Think of what Sakura did to uncover Kakashi during her and Naruto's fight against him in the beginning of Shippuden.) Everyone saw Shikamaru who was ten feet behind Reina. Shikamaru cursed as Reina turned her head and gave an evil smirk as she said "Got ya." The last thing Shikamaru saw was a full body resistance seal flaring before he had a fist in his stomach.

As Shikamaru's unconscious form fell off of Reina's fist, Naruto appeared and said "Shikamaru Nara is unconscious, therefore Reina Uzumaki wins. We will now take a ten minute break to repair the arena. Please use this time to visit the concession stands and bathroom as the next break won't be until after the last fight of the first round."

Most of the audience began to stand up while others decided to remain seated as everyone talked about the fights so far. Meanwhile, earth style users came and began repairing the arena floor while the woods suddenly started repairing themselves as if there was someone out there using the fabled Wood style. (wink, wink) The Kages began talking to themselves about the fight and whether or not using what counted in the elemental nations as a chakra powered machine gun to mow down a forest to make sure your opponent wasn't there was a sound tactic or just overkill.

As this was happening, Naruto walked with Reina towards the tunnel to let them work as he said "You and your brother have been doing well so far."

Reina gained a slight blush as she said "Thank you Naruto." The two then split up with Reina heading to the balcony and Naruto going to use the water fountain by the restrooms.

Ten minutes later, the arena was back in its original condition and everyone was seated. Naruto appeared in the center of the arena drawing everyone's attention as he said "The Fifth Round is about to start. Will Temari of the Desert and Ten Ten please come down for their fight." (I swear to both log and god that my brother actually chose those two to fight. Ironic no? I ask my brother to pick the names since he never saw the show or read the manga and he picks a fight that actually happens.)

Temari used her fan to create a huge gust of wind that she rode on using her fan like a sky board to the amazement of some of the crowd. (think snow boards only used by sky divers. They are used to both control the person's decent and to do more aerial tricks than a person with just a parachute.) Ten Ten quickly followed her by jumping over the railing and taking ninja jumps to reach her spot in front of Naruto at the same time.

As the two kunoichi stood in front of him, Naruto once again noticed that Ten Ten had two Ninjatos strapped to her back. 'Probably wants them for quick draw purposes. I know I would if I was a weapons master and I knew for a month that my opponent was a long range wind user.' Naruto thought as he also noticed the two small fans in Temari's belt before he said "Fighters ready?"

"Yes." Temari said with a confident smirk.

"Yes." Ten Ten said as her eyes instantly turned serious and her hands twitched.

"Then let the fifth fight begin!" Naruto shouted as he shot back. Ten Ten immediately rushed her opponent as her hands went to her swords and she pulled them out and performed a downward strike with the two in the same movement. A loud "CLANG!" was heard as Temari quickly closed her fan and raised it to block the two swords. This became the pattern for most of the fight as Ten Ten began laying into Temari trying to cut her to ribbons as Temari kept back stepping while moving her heavy fan to keep the sharp and pointy toys of her opponent from piercing her flesh.

As she was constantly pushed back, Temari thought 'Damn, she's not giving me a chance to use the smaller fans I bought over the month. Although with how she's attacking, I think they would be bent into circles if I tried blocking with them too much. I can already see the dents forming in mom's battle fan.' Temari was brought out of her thoughts as they reached the forest and Ten Ten unleashed a viscous kick against her fan which had the effect of slamming her into a tree. (Hey, with Gai and Lee on her team, you know she had to get some kind of muscle.) Temari gritted her teeth to keep herself from shouting in pain before she really did when Ten Ten bypassed her defenses and stabbed both blades into her opponent's hands. Temari instantly dropped the fan and an instant later found a blade on either side of her neck.

"Yield. I took care to avoid the bones in your hands but I won't be so kind with my next strikes." Ten Ten said as Temari noticed that instead of the blades pointing to her throat, they were instead pointed down towards her shoulders. She wanted to go for her smaller fans that were tucked in her belt but knew that her opponent would be faster in her threat. Sighing, she rose her hand and said "Proctor, I yield."

Naruto nodded and said "Temari of the Desert has forfeited. Therefore Ten Ten wins."

The crowd cheered as Ten Ten sheathed her swords before she bent down and picked up Temari's fan. Taking out an empty sealing scroll, she sealed it before she handed it to her former opponent much to Temari's shock who was about to ask what the bun haired girl thought she was doing. Taking the offered scroll with a muttered "Thanks," Temari pocketed the scroll before she walked over to the medics who had been coming to look at her hands. Ten Ten nodded before she took off back to the balcony to watch the rest of the last two fights of the first round. (_That's_ how a weapon master should fight a Wind type.)

Naruto waited until Temari and the medics had left the field as well before he walked back to his spot and said "Will Kabuto Yakushi and Rachel Aliston please come down for their match." 'How I wish I was in Rachel's place. That traitor wouldn't know what hit him. I still can't figure out how he had left that meeting without me finding any trace of him. Or how he could have been in two places at once. We were sure that it was him who had controlled those dead bodies to take the Uchiha kid at the hospital. But without confirmed evidence we can't take him in for questioning. Still, I told Rachel this morning to hold nothing back so she'll make him sweat at least.'

The two fighters turned from the balcony and made their way down. As they walked, Kabuto adjusted his glasses as he thought 'I'm glad I'm finally being allowed to actually finish an exam. With the destruction of the Leaf village there is really no more reason for me to hold myself back. Still, it's a good thing that no one can prove I was at that hospital since the body Kakashi 'captured' wasn't really me. Too risky being caught myself after all. And with an air tight alibi of me being on the other side of the village at the time, they had to drop their investigation of me. Thank god for shadow clones.'

The two fighters finally reached Naruto and the two stood in front of each other. Kabuto had a smile that was both relaxing and arrogant. Rachel meanwhile had a look of sheer determination on her face. Naruto for whatever reason had told her to go all out on this person. She planned to make this match just one big _bad _experience for the medic nin.

Naruto looked between the two and said "Fighters ready?" Getting nods from both, he said "Sixth round, begin!"

Naruto's hand had barely begun its decent before Rachel was jumping backwards to avoid the chakra scalpel aimed for her neck. Rachel's eyes narrowed and while she was still in midair quickly drew one of her hook swords and tried to chop the offending limb off. Kabuto quickly withdrew his left hand even as his right came out with an actual scalpel that he pumped chakra into and used to push Rachel's sword upwards as he stepped into Rachel's guard ready to shove the scalpel into the girl's chest. Rachel wasn't going to have it though as her other hand came up and grabbed Kabuto's wrist and sparks flew from her hand shocking Kabuto long enough for her to land and put some distance between the two.

As she landed, Rachel gave Kabuto a deadpan look as he rubbed his wrist applying medical chakra to get it back to one hundred percent. Continuing to look at her opponent nonplussed, Rachel said "You know, I always thought you medic nin were supposed to be more cautious. What is that saying, Medic nin are the last ones hurt? Seems to me you aren't a very good medic if you just rush into fights like that."

Kabuto scowled before both of his hands let up with medical chakra and he charged at Rachel again. Rachel in turn took another jump back as she put her hook sword back in its sheath before she landed and began back flipping at a rapid pace away from Kabuto who couldn't get close enough to use his scalpels. He followed her all the way to the arena wall getting frustrated the longer Rachel continued to evade him. Then Rachel reached the wall and planted her feet against it before she pushed off as her whole arm sparked and she slammed the arm into Kabuto's neck as she shouted "Lariat!"

Kabuto had exactly one split second for his eye's to widen before Rachel's arm crushed his windpipe and sent electricity coursing through his body. But then to Rachel's confusion the medic nin grinned before he fell apart into clumps of mud.

"Damn, mud clone. When did he make that?" Rachel asked herself as she quickly jumped back to the wall and began back flipping up so that way she wouldn't be on the arena floor if Kabuto was using the Underground Fish Projection jutsu. Stopping at a height of twenty five feet, Rachel considered her options.

'Alright, I've got a medic nin who is also an earth type. He can make mud clones so it will be difficult to know if the one I'm fighting is the real one or not. I should use Lightning style against him since Lightning trumps Earth. Since I can't see him anywhere it is a good bet that he knows that Underground Fish Projection jutsu. Whoever named it that was an idiot.' Rachel shook that thought away and thought 'Focus Rachel, you can take pot shots at idiots after you win. Now lets see, best way to counter that jutsu is to either use the Earth Tremble Jutsu like Reina did or to stream lightning through the ground. I'm pathetic at Earth jutsu so I guess I'll have to go with the latter.'

With plan in mind, Rachel took a chakra enhanced leap off the wall and landed near the center of the arena. As soon as her feet touched ground she dropped into a crouch and slammed her hands on the ground. Trails of lighting shot through the ground crackling as Rachel focused on pushing her Lightning natured chakra through it trying to draw out Kabuto.

Rachel kept the electricity flowing for a minute before she cut it off with a frown. Being trained by Uzumakis gives you some damn impressive chakra reserves but she couldn't keep that up for too long. She was also frowning because Kabuto hadn't come flying out of the ground twitching, and it was too much to hope that he was still down there unable to come back up.

Rachel's eyes snapped around the arena before they landed on the woods section. Sighing, she thought 'Of course he wouldn't just come up where I could see him. Still, if he thinks I'm going in there after him than he's crazy.' Rachel began forming hand signs before she called out "Lightning Style: Lightning Wolf Pack Jutsu!" Static electricity crackled around Rachel's form before it expanded and took the form of five growling wolves drawing murmurs from most of the crowd. Still looking towards the woods, Rachel said "I want him alive."

The wolves let loose with a collective howl that sent chills down most of the audience's spines before they charged into the woods. Reaching the edge of the woods, the wolves got out of their pack formation and split up in order to search better. As they slipped into the woods, Kabuto was leaning against a tree trying to get his limbs back into proper working order.

'Well now, I don't think I should use anymore mud clones against her.' Kabuto thought to himself as green chakra surrounded his arms as he tried to heal himself without using the Mystical Palm technique. It's not like he could use that when he couldn't even properly control his body's movements, so he was stuck pushing medical chakra through his coils by will alone like it was some kind of advanced chakra control exercise.

'I don't think I should try going underground either. Who would have thought she had enough chakra to send that much electricity through the ground. If she had controlled it a little bit better I bet she could have made a net.' Kabuto thought before he heard the crackling sound of electricity. Frowning, he looked around the tree he was leaning against and saw a wolf made out of electricity not twenty feet away. The wolf spotted him and seemed to grin as it raised its head and let loose with a howl. Four other howls answered and the wolf launched itself at Kabuto to keep him busy while its comrades came to help.

Kabuto uttered a curse and dodged the mass of animated electricity by jumping away. The wolf shot past him before flipping in mid air to slam all four paws against the tree it was heading towards and launched off at Kabuto's still airborne form leaving burnt paw prints in the tree trunk. Kabuto let out another curse as he shot a chakra string to the side and pulled himself towards the tree that it connected to. The wolf shot past him with barely an inch to spare and Kabuto felt his skin tingle from such close proximity to that much electrical current.

Kabuto landed on the ground and warily watched his opponent land and turn around as the wolf growled at him. But just when he thought he might have a second to come up with a plan to get him a few more seconds before it jumped at him again, Kabuto suddenly screamed in pain as another wolf jumped through the tree that he had his back to and through his body leaving that part of the tree scorched and Kabuto's body spasmodically twitching as sparks erupted all over his body. Kabuto's body crashed down onto the ground as it continued to involuntarily twitch for the second time that day. He glared at the wolf only for the wolf to place a paw on his leg shocking him even more and getting aother scream of pain from the traitor.

Back in the center of the arena, Rachel cocked her head and said "I didn't think they'd find him that soon."

Ten minutes later, Kabuto was staring hatefully at the five wolves who by that time had all met up and formed a circle around him. The reason why he was glaring was because the wolves were currently dragging him out of the woods by biting his clothes. Every time his body stopped twitching and he tried to get free, one of the wolves would move its muzzle just enough to shock him again. He had tried to substitute himself with the surrounding bits of trees a few times but the wolves would always either catch him before he could get away or somehow sniff him out and shock him again if he ever appeared with trees blocking their view.

In the stands, the civilian population that made a portion of the audience kept flinching as Kabuto kept screaming in pain due to the fact that he was determined not to let the pack of elemental wolves complete the mission that was given to them by their creator. After twelve minutes of hearing a scream of pain nearly every two minutes, the wolves finally came out of the woods dragging Kabuto between them. The guy had massive burns all over his body since the last time he had tried to escape the wolves apparently had enough and all five had briefly rubbed against him tearing his nerves apart and making them practically useless. For a normal person, it would take a medic of Tsunade's caliber to get the nerves even slightly repaired properly. For Kabuto, it was a really big nuisance since he had a regeneration blood line that would heal him before the day was done. Still, he wouldn't be able to do his part of the plan as he was and that infuriated him. Seeing that smug smirk on his opponent's face and the smaller one on the proctor's face only made him madder.

When the wolves had finished dragging Kabuto to Rachel, they burst apart into showers of static sparks which quickly dissipated. Naruto walked over and took one look at Kabuto appreciating the burns on the traitor's body before he calmly said "Kabuto Yakushi is unable to battle. This match goes to Rachel Aliston."

Applause rang throughout the arena as Kabuto was carted out by medics. Once Rachel had jumped back up to the balcony box, Naruto said "Will Gaara of the Desert and Sasuke Uchiha please come down for their match."

The audience immediately began talking about the fight that they had all came to see. A vortex of sand immediately appeared on Naruto's right as Gaara wasted no time coming down for his fight. However, after a minute of waiting, there was no sign of the Uchiha causing the noise level in the audience to increase as they wondered where the kid was. Naruto frowned and looked up to the Kage booth and signed a query in the village's sign language.

Up in the Kage booth, the three village leaders frowned since as far as they knew Sasuke was no where near the arena and the crowd was going to be getting restless soon.

Onoki had the biggest frown on his face as he said "I don't know which would be worse, the riots from the crowd if that boy doesn't show up or dealing with your son if he doesn't get his fight Kazekage. I've heard rumors about the kid and I don't like his chances of being understanding of the situation."

"I'm afraid I must agree with you on that one. We may have to postpone the match." The Kazekage said.

Sarutobi cocked his head to the side a little, almost as if he was listening to something neither of the other leaders could hear before he said "We will give him the standard five minutes to show, but no longer than that. If he cannot be bothered to come to the exam on time than there is no point in making him a Chunin."

Both Kages nodded although the Kazekage seemed reluctant. Sarutobi then saw Naruto ask him a question via sign language about what he wanted the blond to do. Sarutobi signed back his answer and Naruto nodded before he said in his announcement voice "Sasuke Uchiha has four minutes to appear before he automatically forfeits his fight and is disqualified from becoming a Chunin."

The noise level in the arena rose once more but Naruto and Gaara ignored it. One so that he could stretch his senses out to find the kid and the other ignoring it out of simple habit. As the two waited for Sasuke's arrival, Naruto's eyes flashed around the arena at speeds that made it look like they were still simply staring ahead. He spotted Haku positioned near the north entrance standing by an Anbu in his old hunter nin mask which had been repainted with the symbol of the leaf. Naruto passed his gaze over him as quickly as it had landed on him before he continued observing the crowds in the stands going over the plan that they had set up.

Four minutes of tense anticipation passed and Naruto pulled out a pocket watch. Seeing fifteen seconds until Sasuke was disqualified, he opened his mouth to speak when a whirlwind of leaves suddenly blew into existence to his left drawing his attention.

Naruto smirked as he said "You're cutting it awfully close don't you think Uncle Kakashi?"

From the whirlwind came a familiar voice as it said "Hey, I got us here on time didn't I?" There was a brief pause before the voice said "We are on time aren't we?"

The whirlwind of leaves settled revealing Kakashi and Sasuke standing close together almost back to back. Kakashi's hand was halfway through the motion of dropping off of Sasuke's shoulder showing that it was him who initiated the rapid travel jutsu. He had a concerned look on his face.

Naruto snorted and said "You had fifteen seconds before Uchiha over there was disqualified. Now get off my field, these people want to see a fight and they're going to be pissed if they don't get one soon."

Kakashi looked relieved before he nodded and wished his student good luck. Sasuke hned as he locked gazes with Gaara and took his place. As Kakashi disappeared in another whirlwind of leaves, Naruto said "Now that both fighters are here, let the final match of the first round begin!"

AN: I know it's terrible of me to end it right there but I'd rather have that fight with the invasion so there. All kindergarten behavior aside, I once again give my apologies for how long this took to write and how utterly terrible it is. The invasion is next though and there is going to be quite the family reunion in it so hopefully you can forgive me for this.


	17. Invasion And Family Reunions

17. Invasion And Family Reunions, Just Your Typical Shinobi Day

AN: I'm so sorry for how long this took me. I got caught up watching some old cartoons and practically dropped off the face of the internet during that. On a completely different note, I left a few challenges on my challenge 'story' and I would appreciate it if you guys would look through them, if nothing else than to tell me they're impossible. On yet another note, Prince is next in line for update so expect that sometime this month. Alright, I've wasted enough of your time, on to the show.

Story Start

"Begin!"

Naruto's shout was met with all three people standing in the middle of the arena exploding into action. Naruto quickly joined the slipstream and ran to a spot three hundred feet away before he slipped out and watched as Gaara's sand blasted out of its gourd and rushed to crush Sasuke who in turn was already in motion himself, dashing to the side in order to avoid said sand moving so fast that he was nothing but a blur to the eyes of civilians and genin. As soon as the sand was past him, Sasuke turned and blurred behind Gaara launching a strong kick at Gaara's back. The kick was blocked by a wall of sand that Gaara had left in his gourd before said wall tried to close around Sasuke's foot and crush it. Sasuke quickly pulled his foot out and rushed to Gaara's side trying to get a punch in only to get the same results.

Sasuke quickly darted away before Gaara's sand could try to attempt to catch him again. Taking a few shuriken out of his pouch as he ran, Sasuke used his lightning natured chakra to give the shuriken a charge before he sent all three flying at speeds that would leave a civilian or genin wondering why they were suddenly dead. Gaara's sand reacted to the sparking shuriken and rose up forming a sand clone which casually caught the shuriken. The clone grinned at Sasuke even though some of the sand was dropping to the ground due to the Lightning chakra negating the Earth chakra that made up most of Gaara's unconscious control of the sand. Then the clone threw the shuriken back at Sasuke who quickly jumped to the side to avoid them.

Sasuke tched to himself as he thought 'I was hoping that my Lightning natured chakra would be more effective against his sand. Well if I can't negate it that way then lets try fire.' Sasuke rushed through hand

signs before he drew his head back and shouted "Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" His head shot back forward and a large fireball blazed its way towards Gaara getting bigger the farther it got from Sasuke until it was about ten meters tall. The fireball slammed into Gaara's position with the redhead not even moving an inch as the fireball exploded as soon as it encompassed him.

All of the civilians in the arena let out a collective gasp as the flames continued to burn for a full minute before finally dying down. When they did, everyone saw a dome of glass protecting Gaara whose red hair could be seen inside. Sasuke tch'ed and thought 'Well that was a bust.'

As if reading his opponent's mind, Gaara showed just how effective the fireball was as with a gesture of his hand the entire dome of glass exploded outwards before it drew in on itself and began spinning forming a vortex of sharp glass that swirled around Gaara. Said Jinchuriki allowed a dark smirk to form on his face as he said "You are going to have to do better than that to prove my existence Uchiha." Then he made another gesture and the top of the tornado bent until Sasuke could see the open end of the funnel. He then had exactly one second to curse and jump out of the way as all of the glass was fired at him single file with all the power and speed of a force four hurricane.

The glass shards followed Sasuke all the way to the wall before finally running out leaving Sasuke wondering just what it took to beat the runt who could apparently counter against both of his elements. Lightning wasn't very effective and Fire just had the bust in combustible put in. Looks like he was going to have to use his ace in the hole after all. If only it wasn't before five minutes into the exam. Cursing under his breath about how everyone is going to think he's weak for having to use his new technique so soon, Sasuke began back flipping up the wall until he was only two feet from the rim.

Gaara looked up at Sasuke and wondered what his opponent was going to do next to try and prove his existence. He got his answer as Sasuke ran through three hand seals and then clutched his left wrist with his right hand. For a second, nothing happened. But then Sasuke's hand erupted in sparks before a shell of Lightning natured chakra covered his entire hand with strands of Lightning chakra shooting out at random directions. As the jutsu began growing in power, everyone in the audience began hearing a sound that could only be likened to a large room filled with a thousand birds.

Naruto stared at Sasuke's hand from his spot three hundred feet away from Gaara and thought 'Now that's interesting. You surprise me Uncle Kakashi, I never thought you would teach him your only original technique so soon. Although when you consider that Sasuke is now the only loyal member of our shinobi forces who can use it besides you I shouldn't be so surprised.'

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sight of Sasuke blasting down the wall at high speed carving a ditch in the wall as his jutsu augmented speed brought him back to ground level in little under a second. A small dust cloud erupted and briefly covered Sasuke's form before he blasted out of it and raced towards Gaara's position with his jutsu still carving a ditch through the ground.

As soon as he was within two hundred feet of Gaara, sand began whipping out at him trying to catch him even as Gaara's gourd burst apart into more sand which shot into the ground in front of him before a foot thick wall of densely packed sand surrounded him on all sides. Sasuke dodged all of the sand tendrils with an ease that made it look easy thanks to his Sharingan as he continued to rush Gaara's position confident in the ability of his jutsu.

That confidence seemed to be well grounded as Sasuke reached the wall and shoved his hand straight through it where his Sharingan told him his opponent had last been. Immediately after he penetrated the wall, all of the sand tendrils dropped straight to the ground making Sasuke smirk at the assumption that he had just hit his opponent. That smirk dropped though as the sand wall fell apart to reveal his hand through a sand clone's chest. Sasuke had just a split second for his eyes to widen before all of the sand around him suddenly came to life again as it jumped up and smothered him in a cocoon.

"I expected more." Gaara said from where he was standing ten feet behind where his clone was. Gaara rose his hand and said "Now prove my existence! Sand Burial."

The civilians in the crowd all gasped as the sand cocoon imploded on itself. However, instead of blood shooting out of the sand, there was only a popping sound and a poof of smoke. Gaara's eyes widened as he saw through the mist of sand his opponent standing next to Naruto. Sasuke had a panicked wide eyed look as he realized just how close he was to dieing. Naruto though looked like he had nothing more on his mind than where the best place to cloud watch was. You would have never known that a shadow clone had just replaced the Uchiha heir unless you had caught him lazily making the necessary hand sign for one of the Hidden Leaf village's most prized techniques.

"This fight's over, Gaara wins." Naruto said in a casual voice.

Sasuke glared at Naruto and was about to shout at him when he was beaten to the punch by Gaara's yell.

"NO! The fight continues! I will not let you deny my existence a second time!"

Naruto rose an eyebrow as sand shot towards Gaara even as he became covered in a gold colored shroud of demonic chakra. Feathers began falling all around the arena as Naruto rose his right hand and purple flames appeared on his fingertips before he disappeared. Gaara's eyes widened as he folded over the blonde's hand and lost consciousness as his access to demonic chakra was suddenly shut tight by having an odd numbered seal placed over his even numbered seal which was always used to seal an odd numbered tailed beast.

As he did, enemy nin dropped their disguises only for most of them to be dropped like sacks of potatoes as a ring of mirrors formed around the top of the seating area and a figure shot from mirror to mirror hitting everyone who had a Sand or Sound headband. The Leaf shinobi in the arena were quick to pick off whatever enemies Haku missed. Unfortunately, they didn't get all of them right away.

"Gaara!" Temari yelled out in fear for her brother as she and Kankoru rushed towards the two.

Naruto looked to the side at the two who were in the process of jumping down to the arena floor and took out two kunai from his pouch which he sent spinning end over end at the two. The two kunai reached them just as they landed but seemingly missed them by the barest of margins before swinging around the two sand shinobi and wrapping them in the chakra strings that had been connected to the middle of the throwing knives.

Naruto made a fist and yanked on the strings sending the two flying halfway to the center of the arena before suddenly stopping as Naruto intercepted their flight paths with half fisted hands in their stomachs knocking the two out as well. Naruto then spun around and thrust out his arm sending a huge blast of wind out in a seal less Great Breakthrough which slammed into the sand trio's Jounin sensei who had tried to sneak up on the blond. The man shot across the arena and impacted the far wall before falling over unconscious.

Naruto turned his head to Sasuke who had stood frozen during all this and shouted "Oi, Uchiha! Get your act together and go meet up with Uncle Kakashi for orders!"

Sasuke shook his head clear before jumping up into the arena seating to find his Jounin sensei. As he did, Naruto created four clones which quickly disappeared. An instant later the Kazekage's kids and their Jounin sensei also disappeared as the clones took them to holding cells. They'd make good negotiation tools when this was all over. Naruto wasn't thinking about that though, as soon as he had made his clones, Naruto joined the slipstream and shot into the stands with two kunai in hand ready to take down any of the shinobi that Haku wasn't able to put into a death trance on his first pass through.

Scene Change: Village Walls Time: Ten Seconds After Genjutsu

Jiraiya stood on top of the main gate's sentinel station. On either side of him was a shadow clone of his godson. Standing behind the three was Ibiki and a squad of Chunin with other Chunin squads standing along the rest of the wall with the occasional Jounin mixed in. There was suddenly a loud war cry coming from the woods before three large plumes of smoke erupted a quarter mile into the forest with the middle one positioned just to the right of the main gate and the other two a half mile away from the middle in a triangle formation. The smoke cleared revealing three snakes, with the middle one having three heads. The snakes hissed at the village that they were summoned in front of before they began slithering rapidly towards the wall with the intention of knocking giant holes into the Village's primary defense.

The two clones disappeared from Jiraiya's flanks and reappeared on the wall in front of the two flanking snakes' path. Pulling out a couple of chakra pills and a vial that held the original's blood, the two clones quickly popped the pills into their mouth before they opened the vials and splashed the blood on their hands. As soon as this was done, they jumped off the wall at the same time as Jiraiya did and the three quickly ran through hand signs before they hit the ground and shouted "Summoning Jutsu!"

Three more plumes of smoke appeared in front of the walls before they cleared revealing the Big Three of the toad clan. The snakes all stopped their charge at the sight of the toads who took a moment to look around before their gazes locked onto the snakes in front of them.

Gamabunta took a moment to look upwards at Jiraiya who was standing on his head and said **"I see you weren't kidding about the chance to get enough snake skin to make wallets for all of the smaller toads Jiraiya."**

Jiraiya chuckled and said "I aim to please Bunta. Now if you'll excuse me, my godson is stealing all the fun."

Indeed, as soon as the other two toads were summoned, the two clones had taken two kunai out of their kunai pouches and joined the slipstream heading into the forest. Already screams of fear were filling the forest as the enemy within the woods were suddenly dropping dead with no sign of who was doing the killing. Jiraiya hopped off of Gamabunta's head and made his way into the woods as well followed by squads of Chunin with Jounin squad leaders ready to make the invaders pay for attempting to invade their home.

Gamabunta watched him go before he brought his attention back to the three headed snake in front of him. Drawing his tanto as he saw his two brothers leap to engage their own opponents, Gamabunta said **"Let's see how long you actually last eh?"**

Scene Change: Competitor's Booth: Time: Five Seconds After Genjutsu Start

Rico and his teammates narrowed their eyes as they saw feathers falling all throughout the arena. Sensing the Genjutsu trying to take hold, all three stocked the inner fires that was their chakra networks turning them into roiling masses of chaos. The Genjutsu slipped off of them like water off of a duck's back which is probably the only reason why they were fully aware instead of slightly muddled like the others in the booth who were still dispersing the Genjutsu the normal way.

Which was why when a Sound Chunnin rushed through the door to the booth expecting the Gennin in it to only be just now getting over the Genjutsu or even passed out along the floor, he only had a split second for his eyes to widen before a wind lengthened katar went straight through his head.

Rico drew his wind natured chakra back inside of him as his two teammates shot past on either side. The Sound nin behind the first had just enough time to draw a kunai to block Reina's tanto before Rachel's hook sword took off his hand and then his head. Rico was already over the two's heads as he activated his katar's splitting functions and slammed them into the third and final sound nin's chest as he came down.

Rico yanked the blades out of the dead nin's body allowing it to drop as he turned around to face the four Leaf Gennin who were staring at the three in surprise. Rico frowned and said "Why are you just standing there staring? Your village is under attack people! Get your acts in gear and lets go!"

The members of team 9 as well as Neji's cousin all unconsciously snapped into attention before they followed the Whirlpool nin who had turned around and began running down the hallway where the sounds of fighting had already started. As they did, the Leaf nin couldn't help but remember what had happened at the end of the first exam.

_Flashback: Ending Of 1__st__ Chunnin Exam_

_SLAM!_

_Everyone looked at Rico who had slammed his hand on the desk in front of him as he stood up and glared at Ibiki. Ibiki meanwhile stared right back at him with a frown on his face and his Killing Intent continuing to permeate the room._

_Rico snarled at the proctor as he said "You, your dumb rules, and your pathetic attempt at Killing Intent don't scare me, scar face! I don't care if I'm a Gennin 'til the day I die, I'm still going to become the best shinobi of my clan and make everyone on this continent take notice of me! And if ANY of you wimps are still thinking about dropping out then you should just turn in your headbands right now, because you aren't shinobi, you're little kids trying to play it safe. We take risks every time we leave our villages. Why? Because it is our job to defend and support our homes, regardless of the risk involved. Now man up and show this jerk that we're not afraid of him or his stupid questions!"_

_The rest of the test takers all gained determined looks in their eyes and turned back to face Ibiki silently telling him to give them the final question. In their seats in front of their teammate, Rachel and Reina smirked at each other across the five shinobi that separated them in their row. Their teammate always did have a way of having spectacular moments at just the right time._

End Flashback

A Sand Jounin came barreling down the stairs that led to the spectator stands from up above with a puppet in front of him. Rico let out a snort of disgust at the Jounin and said "What good is that little toy going to do for you? It doesn't even make a good shield."

The Sand nin saw red but before he could shout his anger at the Whirlpool nin, he heard a voice whisper behind him "See?" Then he saw nothing as Rico's katar pierced the back of his head. Rachel and Reina shot past him up the stairs ignoring the piece of tile that was in the spot Rico had been. Rico pulled his blade out of his opponent and said to Team 9 "Go find your sensei, he'll tell you where you need to be."

Team 9 nodded and dashed after Rico's teammates. Turning to Hinata, Rico said "Stick close to me, we're going to cut a path straight through to Tsunami-sensei." Hinata nodded and the two tore up the stairs after the others.

Scene Change: Stadium Kage Booth: Time: Thirty Seconds Before Invasion

The sound of chirping birds faded out as Sasuke was caught in a cocoon of sand. Seeing Naruto form a clone which quickly replaced itself with Sasuke before he could be killed, Onoki frowned and said "I don't think that Uchiha brat is ready for promotion. He was extremely late showing up with him appearing just in time for his match and apparently can't come up with a plan that doesn't include charging at his enemy at some point."

Sarutobi sighed as he said "I have to agree. Reports say that young Sasuke has a good backing in tactics, but he not really shown any of that today. What do you think Kazekage?"

Hearing nothing but silence as their answer, Onoki and Sarutobi turned and saw the Kazekage looking down at where Naruto was standing next to Sasuke with a look on his face of both disappointment and anger. The two Kages turned back to each other and gave subtle nods that the distracted Kazekage didn't catch.

Onoki stood up and said "I believe I will go relieve myself and place my next bets before the next round begins. Come along Kurotsuchi."

Kurotsuchi nodded and the two left the booth. The Kazekage's eyes flicked at his retreating back for the briefest of instants before they snapped back to the arena as he thought 'It seems that Sasuke is not as strong as I thought. No matter, while it would be in my best interests to have a host be as strong as possible before I take it over, I can get Sasuke's body up to proper standards fast enough when I have him. But that can wait, for right now I need to begin the destruction of the leaf. I still cannot believe that Kabuto lost though. I will have to have words with him when this is over.'

The Kazekage made a quick hand sign and feathers began falling as his body guards rushed at Sarutobi's own body guard. Hayate drew his blade as he stepped in front of Sarutobi and slashed through both of the two Sand nin before he had to duck a kunai as the Kazekage launched himself at him. He was backhanded away as the Kage passed and grabbed Sarutobi before jumping up to the roof.

Hayate got up from where he was slammed into the wall that acted as a backdrop for the Kage chairs and prepared to rush after the two Kages only to have to duck a second time as the 'Sand' nin's body parts turned into four Sound shinobi who quickly rushed at him in a feint with each of them throwing a kunai. The action cleared the four Sound nin's path and they jumped after the two Kages and took positions forming a rectangle around the two Kages before they quickly raised a purple barrier.

Hayate cursed and rushed after them. He was joined by a squad of ANBU who ran beside him. When they were ten feet away, the ANBU captain suddenly recognized the barrier and shouted "Stop, Jiraiya's barrier bashing seals can't break that!"

Hayate and three of the ANBU skidded to a stop, but the one in front who was in the process of taking a shinobi leap and to activate the toad sage's special seal couldn't stop his momentum as he launched his body at the barrier. The ANBU captain could only watch knowing that he was about to lose a squad member before the jumping ANBU was grabbed by the back of his collar and jerked back causing his body to swing forward and his ninja sandals to barely brush the barrier. They erupted in flames and as the ANBU's legs hit the ground, he quickly tore them off before looking at the person who had saved him.

The figure was obviously one of Naruto's clones since it had the Jounin's face and clothes. But it looked like it was around its early twenty's instead of a twelve year old. The gathered ANBU and Hayate blinked as the clone let go of the ANBU and then dropped his transformation that it had utilized to catch the ANBU in time. When the smoke cleared, the clone gave a quick salute and disappeared.

"Well that's something you don't see every day." Hayate said. The ANBU nodded and all five got ready for a long wait.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village Academy Time: Thirty Seconds After Genjutsu

Iruka heard the village wide invasion alarm start wailing and cursed as he shouted "Everyone form up! Follow me and don't lag behind! This is not a drill!"

The students who had been running laps quickly ran over to Iruka and formed two lines like they were taught in drills. Iruka made sure he had all of his class before he turned and prepared to lead his students into the building where there was a secret tunnel to the evacuation centers in the Hokage Mountain. But as he did, twelve shinobi with a music note on their headbands and wearing ski masks suddenly appeared in poofs of smoke ten feet in front of him causing him and the students to stop running.

The Sound shinobi in the front chuckled darkly as he said "Well looky what we have here. Some brats and their wimpy teacher out in the open with no where to run. You guys go on ahead, I'll take care of these weaklings."

The other shinobi all gave dark chuckles as they turned to run to the academy. Iruka gritted his teeth as he pulled out a kunai ready to defend his charges when a shout of "Like hell you well!" suddenly filled the air and all twelve nin dropped with kunai holes in the back of their skulls. All of the kids let out horrified gasps as the bodies hit the floor.

Four blonde figures suddenly appeared in front of the bodies and Konohamaru shouted "Boss!" Everyone could hear the surprise and relief in the Sandaime's grandson's voice.

The clones grinned at Konohamaru before the leader turned to Iruka and said "Our brothers are evacuating the rest of the school as we speak. We're going to start bringing your class to the evacuation point four at a time while two of us stay to guard the rest and then help with the rest of the village defense."

Iruka nodded and two of the clones disappeared as they joined the slipstream and grabbed two of the kids each and rushed to the Hokage Mountain. The rest of the kids Woah'ed before they all began disappearing in ten second increments. Iruka was the last one grabbed and just before he disappeared after his students he thought 'Whoever planned this invasion has made a big mistake.' Then he was gone from the training field, the last person evacuated from the academy leaving the building and surrounding training fields devoid of all life.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Hospital

Twelve squads of Sound and Sand nin were standing on the building that stood directly in front of the Hospital's low four foot wall. All of them were looking down at the entrance where a single blond figure was leaning against the wall next to the right side of the double doors. The figure was looking up at all forty eight enemies with a look of absolute boredom on his face as he spun a kunai around each pointer finger in opposite directions.

"Only one shinobi for the entire outside perimeter of a Hospital? No wonder Lord Orochimaru believes this village will fall easily, what arrogance." One of the Sound nin muttered to their leader.

The leader frowned and said "Either the village is extremely stupid thinking that no one will actually attack a hospital or the higher ups are really confident in this guy's skills."

The man next to him snorted and said "Over confident you mean. How can one person completely defend the outside of a building like this? Especially a runt like that brat?"

"By being extremely fast."

All of the ninja stiffened at the voice and looked behind them. Their eyes widened before all of them fell to the ground dead with through and through holes in their chest in both of their lungs and their hearts. The clone cleaned his kunai on the clothes of the closest Sand nin before he went back to his post.

Scene Change: Kage Booth Rooftop Time: Forty Five Seconds After Genjutsu

Inside the barrier, Orochimaru had a hand around Sarutobi's neck and the other holding a kunai close to Sarutobi's chest. Orochimaru let out a happy sigh as he said "Ah, I've been waiting a long time for this."

"You've been waiting to build a village of your own only to waste the lives of everyone who looked to you for guidance and protection as they participate in a suicide battle alongside the Sand?" Sarutobi asked with a growl in his voice. You did not need to know Sarutobi well to see that he was beyond pissed at the waste of lives that Orochimaru was bringing about today.

Orochimaru laughed as he said "This village will burn one way or another sensei. Whether it be from my army crushing this village like the leaf it's named after or by myself once I finally kill you today. Either way is perfectly fine by me."

"Too bad I'm not going to let you." Sarutobi growled before he seemed to burst apart in an explosion of wind as he used the body flicker technique to move at high speed out of Orochimaru's grasp and to a spot thirty feet to Orochimaru's right.

Orochimaru blinked as he looked over his shoulder at where his sensei had stopped. Turning to face him with a frown on his face, he said "That was not your usual shunshin sensei."

Sarutobi grinned as he said "Actually it is, even though I rarely use it anymore. Oh, and by the way, I'm not your sensei."

'Sarutobi' suddenly exploded in smoke before a whirlwind of wind blew it away revealing a figure in a sleeveless shirt that made Orochimaru's eyes bulge out.

Scene Change: Hidden Leaf Village War Room

Sarutobi took off the radio headset that he had been wearing and walked over to the map of the village and its surrounding area that his Jounin commander, Shikaku Nara was looking around as the other two members of the original Ino-Shika-Cho team waited for orders. Stepping up to one of the best tactical minds in the village, Sarutobi said "How is it going?"

"Everything is running smoothly Lord Hokage. Naruto's clones have already evacuated the academy and the toad summons have already defeated the three snakes that were summoned. Everywhere around the village we're holding this village off easily with the help of Naruto's clone squads."

Sarutobi nodded and said "Good. Shikaku, I want you and your team to join me. We're going to go help speed things up a bit."

The three Jounin nodded and followed Sarutobi as he left the war room leaving the coordination of the fights to the people who actually worked in the war room for a living. On their way out, they grabbed four radios that were already set to the proper battle frequency. It wouldn't do for the village leader not to know what was going on while he was fighting after all.

Scene Change: Arena Roof

Naruto had to smirk at the gob smacked look on Orochimaru's face as he pulled the small radio bud out of his ear. That look quickly turned to one of anger as Orochimaru shouted "You! Where is Sarutobi-sensei?"

Naruto shrugged and said "Somewhere out in the village where he can help more than in here I imagine. My turn for a question, how are you able to move around so easily? Those fourth degree burns I placed on your arms and upper body should have made it impossible for you to use your upper body at all."

Orochimaru let out a chilling laugh as he said "Wouldn't you like to know brat." Then his face turned serious as he said in a low tone almost as if he was talking to himself "I was planning on Kabuto summoning her but since he is currently indisposed, I'll just bring her here as well."

Naruto frowned and said "What the hell are you muttering about you traitorous snake?"

Orochimaru grinned before he pulled a piece of paper with a seal out of his pocket. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he recognized the seal as one that allowed a person to use a jutsu without hand signs but looked far more complex than anything his god father had shown him so far. But before he could even think about trying to analyze the seal, it glowed blue almost as soon as the entire paper hit open air. It was as if the mixture of gases in the air was activating the seal.

Before Naruto could figure out how _that_ worked, four coffins suddenly burst out of the roof and Naruto's eyes narrowed in confusion at the numbers and whirlpool symbol that were on the front. Then the coffin lids fell forward and hit the roof tiles with resounding thuds and his eyes widened at the four figures who slowly walked out. His eyes locked onto Orochimaru's own eyes which showed the ultimate level of smugness and growled as he said "You slimy-no-good-grave-robbing-mother-fucking-bastard! When I get through with you, there won't be a shred of useable DNA left to make even a tentative ID of your body!"

Orochimaru tilted his back and laughed before he gave Naruto the slimiest smile in the history of the world as he said "Oh come now, brat. Appreciate the large amount of work it took to get DNA samples for these people."

"How about I appreciate all the plans I now have of turning your entire world into nothing but pain before I finally end your existence?" Naruto asked in a deadly voice.

"This is bad." The ANBU captain said from where he and his squad plus Hayate were watching the confrontation taking place outside the barrier.

"Sir, who are those two people next to the Yondaime and the Red Death? I don't recognize them at all." The newest member of the ANBU squad asked.

"The first and second Hokage." Hayate said answering for the squad leader. 'Young Uzumaki is good, but how can he possibly stand up to three of the past Hokages and his mother?'

Said Hokages were looking around while Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki had their gazes on the blond in front of them with what could only be horror in their eyes.

"Well now, this is certainly a change from the norm. It seems we were summoned back into the world of the living. And by such a sapling as well." Hashirama Senju said as his gaze took in his surroundings including the man standing behind him.

"Indeed brother. Although to have my own jutsu used to bring us here is quite unsettling. And to have us fight a boy of all things just screams overkill." Tobirama said as his gaze quickly darted towards Orochimaru before they focused on Naruto whose own eyes quickly flicked over to the first two Hokages before flicking back to his parents.

"Naruto? Is that you?" Kushina asked in a horrified whisper.

"Hey mom. Bet you were hoping to not see me for a lot longer eh? And I wasn't expecting to see you until even longer dad. Something about your soul being eaten by the Shinigami as a price for sealing Kyuubi in me?" Naruto asked with a sad smile on his face.

All four ANBU's jaws dropped past the bottom of their mask's as the similarities between the two blonde's was suddenly shown to be more than just similarities between distant relatives like most of the village had forced themselves to believe. Hayate's eyes were almost out of his skull as he too realized that the village's resident jinchuriki was directly related to the man who had made him what he was.

Orochimaru himself stiffened in shock at the new information since he himself thought that Naruto was only a nephew to the fourth Hokage. He gained an even more evil grin as Minato sighed and said "Orochimaru made a deal with the Shinigami. He allowed Orochimaru to summon me to take part against the invasion, and in turn, he got all of the souls of the people who died today, whether they be Leaf, Sound, or Sand."

Naruto's hair began moving around as if in a breeze as he said "Well then it's a good thing only those from the Sound and Sand are going to die today. My clones are making sure of that." Three clones suddenly poofed into existence as Naruto's hair began moving around even faster and his body began being covered by a thin multi-colored shell of chakra that moved in a boiling rage that reflected his anger. Then an instant later Naruto's presence fully flared into existence and everyone in the arena paused in their fights as they felt like they were suddenly dropped in the middle of the ocean with it and the sky in the middle of a war with each other. Tsunami's head snapped over to the barrier as she thought 'This presence. I haven't felt a presence so powerful since Master Umi killed that gang leader who dared to say he'd rape his wife when he was done with him. What could have set off Naruto so much?'

Kushina's eyes gained a proud look in them, but before she could say something, Orochimaru said "Well now, it seems that the talking is over. Now if you four would please kill this annoyance then I will be able to get on to the important stuff like killing sensei." Right after he finished speaking, Naruto saw all four stiffen before their eyes became dull.

As his father began pulling out a set of tri pronged kunai and his mother reached up to the sword that poked over his right shoulder, Naruto's clone's right arms suddenly shot to the side as they snapped their fingers. Sparks were instantly created from the friction and the blondes' arms became coated in swirling twisters of fire as the sparks ignited spinning funnels of wind chakra that surrounded their arms. The original's multicolored chakra shell settled down leaving just a thin sheen as he prepared to move at his fastest possible speed.

"Leave dad to me." was the only thing the original said before all four joined the slipstream and rushed at their opponents.

Clone 1 vs. Hashirama

Naruto's clone shot right at Hashirama before he jumped and slammed a Lariat into the first Hokage's throat going clean through and leaving flames licking at the top of the torso and bottom of the head. Naruto's clone landed and looked at the body as it collapsed and the head hit the ground with a wet thud sound.

"Well that was easy." The clone said before the body burst into dust and shot at the head lifting it up as the body reformed. "Or not." He said now frowning. As the first Hokage's body continued to slowly reform, the clone crossed the two feet separating them and placed his hand on the head. The head began to catch on fire before the clone shot wind chakra into it causing the fire to roar into an inferno. The head and body disintegrated back into dust as the seal inside the Hokage's head was burnt to ash.

Naruto's clone turned to help with the other fights before he felt a hand on his shoulder. Spinning around expecting to have to fight some more, the clone gaped at the astral figure hanging in front of him. Hashirama's soul grinned as he said "Thanks sapling." Then it faded out of existence causing the clone to blink before it shook its head and went to help his brother clone that was fighting the original's mother.

Clone 2 vs. Tobirama

Naruto's second clone wasn't planning on dawdling during his fight. If the original's memories of his fight with Kuroda were any indication, his brother fighting Kushina would need some serious backup. Especially considering the fact that they didn't have a massive dome of ice to freeze the reanimated Uzumaki in. He appeared right in the second Hokage's face with his hand already through the undead's heart. The zombie didn't even twitch as the clone put a hand on its shoulder and pushed it away and pulled his other hand out in the same motion, it just fell to the floor.

With his own fight taken care of, the clone turned and began walking towards his brother's fight taking note of how his soon to be second opponent was fighting. Then he caught sight of his opponent's upper torso rising thanks to the chakra field that the original had started before the fights had even begun and casually side stepped the Rock Splitter jutsu that was aimed at his head.

Turning back around and seeing the wound begin healing, the clone said "So one instant kill spot won't do the job eh? What about all eight at the same time?" The clone joined the slipstream and rushed back at the former Hokage which had taken the time the clone had spent talking to get back up. It fell down again though when the clone stabbed a wind sword through the throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, and finally the heart for a second time. Then for good measure, the clone spun the wind sword in his hand and stabbed the blade straight down into the zombie's brain. The figure burst apart into dust and the clone saw that he had stabbed some kind of seal that had been somehow buried in the brain.

Picking up the remains of the seal and looking at it in curiosity, the clone suddenly jumped as a voice said "That's what you need to aim for to stop the others." Looking up, the clone's mouth dropped as the astral form of the zombie he just killed gave a merry wave before he faded away. The clone frowned as he looked back at the seal before he 'saw' his brother run towards Kushina and his other brother's fight. Dropping the seal as he joined his first brother he thought 'This should be interesting.'

Clone 3 vs. Kushina

The final clone rushed at Kushina hoping to take her out before she got her sword out. The fight would be a lot harder if he had to fight an opponent with a blade in her hands. No such luck, as soon as one of the mimicries of life had disappeared from most people's vision, the other became coated in multi-colored chakra and yanked the sword out and easily blocked the kunai stab to the head with the flat of her blade. The clone grit his teeth and shot his still flaming right hand forward even as he dropped his kunai a couple of inches in an attempt to get it under the sword's edge and swing it way out of position.

Again no such luck as Kushina's other arm shot out and nearly took him out of the fight right then and there as he quickly spun out of the way. The clone dismissed the swirling vortex of fire around his arm in favor of using the hand to push off of Kushina's shoulder to add to the power of his jump backward which saved him from the blade of Kushina's sword that had not been idle when Kushina had tried to slam her other hand into him. Hitting the ground ten feet away, the clone dropped his kunai and blitzed through hand signs and shouted "Wind Style: Wind Senbon Jutsu!"

The clone took in a deep breath before he let it all out in one massive exhale sending a hundred invisible and very sharp pointy things at his zombie opponent. Said zombie spun to the side and let loose with a horizontal swing of her sword which sent a blast of wind towards Naruto which blew the senbon away before blowing past where the clone had once been.

The clone saw the wind erupt into flames as it hit the barrier even as he ran parallel to said barrier for five steps before he pulled out two other kunai as he thought 'Well jutsu are out, they just take too long to reach us. Old school style it is then.'

The clone dashed at his stationary target ready to begin another dangerous game of try to poke the other person without getting poked yourself. As he did, the clone found himself wondering just how Kushina and Kuroda could have gotten their eyesight so good that they could keep up with those who could join the slipstream. That thought was immediately shelved as soon as it formed in favor of the clone going into a baseball slide less than two feet from his opponent hoping to knock the zombie down since it couldn't move its legs properly with the multicolored chakra.

Kushina however simply jumped over the sliding tackle while bringing her sword down on the clone. The clone quickly blocked with his right kunai even as he slapped his left hand on the ground lifting his body up in a spin which he used to get level with Kushina's feet again and slashed straight through her right leg with the wind blade formed on the left kunai. He then pushed off to avoid the follow up swing from Kushina's sword even as the right leg fell to the ground. Coming out of his spin and landing on all fours five feet away, the clone saw Kushina land and instantly go down.

He was just about to launch himself at Kushina while she was still down when a chain of multi-colored chakra shot out of Kushina's chest and the clone had to quickly duck and roll to avoid having its head cut off. He ended up rolling right next to one of his brothers' feet as the other jumped over the chain and let loose with a miniature wind dragon.

Kushina rolled to avoid the dragon even as her cut off leg burst into dust and returned to her body to slowly reform. The dragon left a crater in the roof revealing the fact that the purple barrier surrounding them also went through the roof as well. Clone 1 sent a burst of wind chakra out of his hands launching himself at Kushina hoping to get her while she was still on the floor, only to have to do the same thing to avoid the vertical sword swing sent his way.

"We need to take out the head. There's a seal in it that's controlling her." Clone 2 said to his brother who was now on his feet again.

Clone 3 nodded and said "Jutsu are out, they just take too long to reach our opponent in this kind of fight."

Clone 2 frowned and said "Or maybe you're just not using them right."

Clone 3 looked at his brother in confusion as he began running through a quick chain of improvised hand signs. They weren't anything the clone recognized although it seemed similar to the water condensation jutsu Reina used in the preliminaries. But it was extremely different at the same time, seeming to be a condensation jutsu for the air instead of water.

"I'm going to have to thank Rachel for showing the boss her Fullmetal Alchemist manga after this." Clone 2 said as the air around Kushina began becoming wavy and mostly invisible tendrils began to rapidly snake toward different points along the barrier.

Clone 3 suddenly knew what his brother was planning and beat his brother in warning their other one as he shouted to Clone 1 "Brother! Get out of there!"

Clone 1 looked over from where he currently had Kushina's sword caught in an x guard with both kunai and one foot raised blocking a kick. He 'saw' the 'streams' of changed air hit the barrier and instantly catch fire and his eyes widened as he shouted "Whoa!" Clone 1 jumped out of the way and all three clones watched as six streams of fire shot down the paths of changed air almost as fast as they could run and slam into Kushina's form turning it into a raging bonfire.

Clone 1 appeared next to his brothers and said "Thanks for the warning."

Clone 3 gave a nod and said "No problem. You think that did the trick?"

"No way in all nine circles of hell." Clone 2 said as he ran through more hand signs as the burning figure silently turned towards them and began walking in their direction. They could see the body in constant flux as it tried to regenerate and the regenerated flesh being burned again. Finishing on Rooster, Clone 2 said "Let's make that fire a little hotter. Wind Style: Demon Windmill Shuriken Jutsu!" The clone thrust his hand to the side and a demon windmill shuriken made out of wind formed in his hands. Both of his brothers jumped out of the way as he began spinning it around his hand creating a screeching bell like sound. Then the clone spun around in a full circle and hurled the shuriken at their opponent.

As the shrieking disk of wind chakra shot at her reanimated corpse, Kushina's sword came up and slashed straight trough the shuriken. Said weapon burst apart into a massive burst of wind that made the fire erupt into white hot flames. The three clones watched as the body finally completely burned away leaving nothing left but the smallest of ashes.

"That's how you really kill a zombie, you burn it to nothing." Clone 2 said as he crossed his arms in front of him. His two brothers could only nod as Clone 1 thought 'Boss and Haku had so much trouble with Kuroda. I guess this just shows you that a dead opponent, even an undead one, is no match for the living equivalent.'

An astral projection of Kushina slowly rose out of the flames and she smiled as she said "Well done boys, you make a mother proud." Kushina's face turned serious as she said "Now go take care of your father and then make that traitorous snake pay."

The clones gave a salute to the woman as she faded away before they turned and launched themselves into the fight between the original and his other maker.

Original vs. Minato

The instant Minato started throwing kunai in a spread as he rushed at his son Naruto was throwing out his own kunai knocking those off their course making sure that their wasn't a proper chakra field for his father's corpse to properly use. Fortunately for him, Naruto didn't need any special kunai as his own chakra field had been slowly filing the area inside the barrier ever since Orochimaru had 'caught' him. When he had revealed who he really was he had turned the slight chakra 'mist' that had formed into the invisible fog that he was used to working with. His father, not so much.

Naruto easily sidestepped the punch that was thrown at him and grabbed the fist as it passed by pulling it forward causing the zombie to stumble before Naruto's charka packed kick to the back sent the clone flying ten feet away. The clone tucked and rolled and turned around faster than most opponents could take advantage of his ill placement but Naruto already was on top of him with a kunai slamming against the tri pronged kunai his father had grabbed during his roll.

Grinning as he poured wind chakra into his kunai, Naruto said "Like I'm going to let you actually use one of those!" The kunai sheared straight through the blade juncture of the custom kunai of his opponent and sliced through the seal on the handle that was revealed as Minato let go of the kunai in order to perform a quick side step and slam a round house kick at Naruto's right ribs. Naruto grunted as the kick made contact before he slapped his arm down and caught the leg between his body and arm before he spun putting Minato off balance as he came out of his spin with a viscous backhand that sent the zombie stumbling backwards a few steps.

"Come on, that can't really be all you got." Naruto said as he ran at his father's reanimated body and launched a viscous haymaker at its jaw. Minato shifted his head back and allowed the fist to pass harmlessly by even as he let loose with a punch with his right fist. Naruto caught the fist with his left hand, and in a move similar to the one used in the earlier fight between the two Hyugas, used the force from the punch to spin in a circle and slam his elbow into Minato's chest. However, instead of sending Minato flying, Naruto only sent him back a step which was just fine as Naruto dropped to a knee to avoid the retaliatory horizontal swing as he performed a leg sweep that was jumped over.

Naruto jumped back avoiding the axe kick that was proceeded by a front flip before he landed and shot right back into the fray with a wind coated hand that was held as a knife edge. Minato's body spun out of the lunge but wound up running right into a kick to the side of the head for his troubles. This kick was augmented by both wind and normal chakra so sent Minato's corpse flying a good thirty feet away. The clone seemed to recover fairly easily although when it landed it paused as if analyzing the situation.

Naruto snapped into a ready stance waiting for round two as his opponent's eyes narrowed the barest of millimeters. Then the zombie did something that Naruto wasn't expecting. Minato took out a tri pronged kunai and stuck it in his mouth before he formed two spiraling spheres of chakra in his hands. As the kunai began glowing a solid yellow with a sphere of chakra beginning to surround his opponent, Naruto frowned as he said "Well that can't be good."

As if to punctuate his statement, Minato rushed at him and shoved his right arm at Naruto's chest. Naruto let out a startled "Whoa!" As he quickly sidestepped. He wasn't quite fast enough as the rapid movement caused his shirt to flutter a little and Naruto's eyes widened as the spinning orb shredded the hanging cloth to little pieces that went flying.

'That's got to be dad's Rasengan!' Naruto thought before his eyes widened even further as he took a quick step back to avoid the follow up from the left hand. He couldn't avoid the kick that was slammed into his chest that followed though and he went flying over the roof before he crashed thirty feet away. Naruto hit the ground painfully but was able to turn the land into a backwards summersault leaving him in a crouch as his father blasted across the roof and slammed the Rasengan in his right hand down on Naruto's position in an over head swing. Naruto quickly rolled to the left so that way he could stay out of the way of the left Rasengan and used a quickly formed wind sword to slash at his father's legs. The clone jumped over the slash though and kicked out with the right leg catching Naruto squarely in the jaw.

Naruto felt his body unwillingly leave the tiled roof that had been less than a millionth second ago firmly under his feet. As it did, Naruto tried to swing his wind sword in an upward arc hoping to slice his father into halves only for a Rasengan to hit the blade and to send Naruto's form spinning with his head aiming for the other Rasengan. Naruto's eyes widened before the Rasengan hit and his skull exploded in a shower of blood, bone, and grey matter. Then in the next instant, his form erupted in smoke and the pieces of a completely shattered roof tile fell to the floor.

Minato's eyes darted to the floor before he was suddenly gone as a spear of multicolored chakra shot past where his chest had been a minute ago. Twenty feet behind his former position, Naruto growled as he slapped the underside of his father's right hand away safely diverting the Rasengan away from him as he said "You know, you're really starting to PISS ME OFF!" Naruto's form erupted in a bonfire of multi-

colored chakra which slammed into Minato's form and sent him flying.

Naruto growled as his special chakra coalesced down his arms into four inch wide saw blades that spun in front of his palms. Holding his arms carefully at his sides, Naruto said "You aren't the only one who knows how to spin your chakra to make offensive jutsu." Minato's corpse didn't say anything, it just picked itself up and recreated its two Rasengans before it ran back at Naruto who ran towards his opponent as well.

As soon as the two were in range, Minato's right arm swung at Naruto's head. But Naruto was now able to properly defend and chakra sparks flew through the air as his left arm arched up and his spinning chakra disk intercepted the Rasengan. As Naruto blocked the first attack, he initiated the second by bringing his right arm up from down low at an angle hoping to cut his father's left hand off. The disk danced off a descending sphere but his rising foot coated in wind chakra did manage to slice through the area right above his father's right foot.

Minato began falling to the side and Naruto flicked his right elbow up hoping to get a good hit in on Minato's chest as he went down before his eyes widened and he suddenly took a leap back as far as he could as a pillar of flame suddenly slammed down from the top of the barrier into his father's form. He took five more hops back before he felt he was safe and he stared at the fading pillar of flames as his father's form continued to burn even as it seemed to somehow regenerate.

"Alright, it's official, I love that combo."

Naruto didn't so much as twitch as his three clones suddenly appeared by his side. Instead he simply said "Status."

"First Hokage dealt with via rapid incineration. Chakra usage was minimal."

"Second Hokage dealt with via Eight Killing Points technique plus a stab through the brain. This revealed a special seal tag hidden in the brain which controls the corpses. Chakra usage was minimal."

"Kushina Uzumaki dealt with thanks to help from my brothers. Clone21 initiated a combination similar to the technique used by Roy Mustang from Rachel's Fullmetal Alchemist manga to ignite the zombie and used a wind Demon Windmill Shuriken to increase the blaze. Chakra usage was minimal due to other jutsu being too slow to be effective."

Naruto nodded before the four suddenly split apart as a still flaming Minato appeared in front of them and tried to light the original on fire as well with a punch. It seemed that even though the clones and original could converse amazingly fast amongst themselves thanks to the slipstream, Minato wasn't interested in allowing the four to come up with a proper strategy. Naruto sighed and dismissed his chakra saw blades in order to run through a quick set of hand seals as he said "I've had enough of this. Wind Style: Compress."

The air molecules inside a twenty foot cube surrounding the fighters suddenly all shot together forming a barrier of sorts that usually prevented the trapped person from being able to move properly due to the feeling of being in a plus thirty g environment with all of the air molecules pressing down on you. The effect on Minato was turning his Slipstream established speed into something more along the lines of a recently promoted Jounin. The compressed air also had the effect of causing the fire to flare as it burned up more oxygen greedily.

Knowing that he had to act quickly as the now considerably slower zombie continued running at the original, said blond formed a wind sword and said "Lets finish this." His three clones each formed a wind sword as well and they disappeared using their wind manipulation skills to pass through the condensed air pocket unimpeded before they each appeared on a different side of Minato with a wind blade sticking into Minato's head that quickly caught fire.

The four blondes quickly pulled out the swords but took no action to put out the flames since they could keep them from their hands. Minato's corpse finally began to burn without regenerating and it wasn't long before the astral aspect of the Fourth Hokage rose up out of the body. He smiled at them, but before he even had the chance to open his mouth, his eyes widened and he snapped his gaze to just over Naruto's head.

Naruto and his clones instantly followed suit but saw nothing but empty air that was quickly returning to its regular density as the original released his now unneeded jutsu. Looking back at Minato, they saw him nod at whatever he was seeing before he turned his gaze to the original.

"Naruto, you don't know how proud I am at how you turned out. I wish I could say more, but the Shinigami has come to take me back. He has an interesting deal for you however. Orochimaru's attempts at gaining immortality are beginning to extremely annoy the Shinigami. If you can put a permanent end to those ambitions, he's willing to release my soul."

'Read kill the snake freak.' Naruto thought before he looked up to the empty air above his head and gave a simple nod. He was going to kill the snake anyway, but this got his father's soul free as well so he wasn't saying anything.

Minato's form faded and Naruto noticed that while he and his clones had been fighting completely focused on taking out their undead opponents, Orochimaru had taken the chance to order his barrier dropped and he and his guard were currently In the air with the Sound nin with six arms shooting what looked like a spider web out of his mouth at them.

Inwardly scolding himself about allowing his focus to slip so badly, Naruto said "Scatter and go help your brothers defend this village. I'll take care of Orochimaru and his guard by myself."

The clones blinked but nodded at the order before they disappeared, flaming swords and all.

Time Skip: During The Uzumaki/Hokage Fights

Orochimaru's grin slipped a little as he saw both the First and Second Hokage's astral forms appear less than fifteen seconds into their fights with the blond nuisance's clones. He wasn't too worried though since he knew the brat had extreme speed on his side and wasn't expecting those two to be very effective anyway.

The other two fights were obviously going to last much longer, and Orochimaru was sure that those two would get rid of the brat for him. He just wished he could see how poorly that nuisance was doing in those fights. The only thing he could clearly catch from the fights were the occasional glimpse of Kushina's legs and that was simply because she wasn't moving around the battle field much. Everything else of her body was nothing more than a multicolored blur that looked more like a fog than a human being. And good luck to anyone trying to follow the fight between the two users of the Slipstream, although he did not know that was what they were using. The only thing he could see of that fight were the shattered remains of a roof tile signifying that one of the two had for some reason used substitution for their fight.

His small grin turned into a frown when five streams of fire made their way from the barrier to where Kushina's legs were at impossible to follow speeds. His frown deepened when he saw the streams converge and the younger Uzumaki's clones all appeared side by side and one of them used a wind jutsu to turn the resulting bonfire into a white hot inferno. His frown gained a touch of fear as he saw Kushina's astral form appear and say something to the clones who each nodded and disappeared.

Deciding that he'd rather be alive than die trying to see what happened between the brat and his damn father while there were three more of said brats getting ready to do who knows what, Orochimaru shouted "Drop the barrier! We're leaving!"

His four body guards turned their heads toward him in confusion but did as instructed. Dropping the inner barriers surrounding them first, the four took greatly enhanced chakra jumps back to Orochimaru's position causing the outside barrier to fall since they were no longer in position. Orochimaru was already in a crouch to jump as the barrier disappeared. All five jumped off the roof with massive jumps thanks to nearly overloading the chakra coils in their legs to get the necessary distance needed.

The four ANBU and one Leaf Jounin who were forced to only watch as they were on the outside of the barrier launched themselves into their own leaps hoping to intercept them. Kidomaru scoffed at their rising forms before he spat a web of spider silk which caught their pursuers and made them drop like a stone.

Orochimaru smirked at their descent before he heard a voice shout "You're not getting away that easily! Transform!" All five Sound nin's eyes snapped to just in front of them as a two hundred foot tall pillar of smoke erupted in front of them on top of the roof they were just on. Two massive arms shot out of the smoke cloud and closed around the group immediately stopping their angled ascent. When the smoke cleared it revealed those giant arms were attached to an equally giant and extremely pissed off blond.

"Orochimaru, for your crimes against the village, you will be executed. But before that, I'm going to make you beg for the tortures of hell. And your followers will get the same."

The tone of cold fury in Naruto's voice made Orochimaru's guards shiver, but Orochimaru only gave Naruto his sick grin as he said "Ah, but first you have to find the original, and he is not even in this country at the moment." Confusion quickly made itself known in Naruto's eyes. But before he could ask what the snake was talking about, all five bodies burst apart in explosions of blood.

Naruto stared at his blood covered hands for a moment before he snapped back into focus and dropped his transformation. Once back to his usual height, he quickly ran over to the trapped ANBU team and Hayate and proceeded to cut the webbing to ribbons with a wind enhanced kunai.

Once they were free, Naruto reached into his pocket for his ear bud radio and turned it on as he placed it in his ear. Turning it to the battle frequency the Leaf village was currently using, Naruto said "I sure hope the Old Man kept his radio with him."

Scene Change: Block Near North Gate

Sarutobi smashed Emma's staff form into the face of a Sand Jounin as she tried to stab him in the back with a kunai. Around him the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio were demonstrating just why they were currently the best team in the village when it came to teamwork as they helped the defenders beat back the enemy that had breached the gate. As he spun to slam Emma into a Sound nin's sternum, he heard his radio crackle as his radio was pinged by the war room.

Tapping it with a free hand while the other slammed Emma into yet another enemy, he said "Sarutobi."

"Sir, Jounin Uzumaki is asking to have a direct line with you. He's saying it's urgent."

"Put him through." Sarutobi said as he spun Emma deflecting a bunch of kunai before he leapt at the Sand nin who had thrown the kunai and sent him through a building.

"Sir, Orochimaru's no longer in the village. In fact, I don't think he has been since the second exam. The one I fought and the four guards he had with him were actually some kind of clone I had never seen before. They seemed to have been made out of blood."

Sarutobi blinked in surprise as he muttered to himself "Blood clones. Orochimaru must have been in really bad shape to have to use those." Louder he said "Blood clones are extremely draining, I would imagine that Orochimaru and these guards of his would have been out of commission for at least a week after making them since they take about ninety percent of the person's chakra to make. But from what you told me happened in the forest it would be the best type of clone to use since it can be slightly modified without dispelling it and can also use most of the jutsu the original can use."

"That would explain how the clone could move around so easily when I had made the original's upper body practically useless with those fourth degree burns. That also explains why he used a jutsu seal instead of the hand signs for that jutsu that brought people back to life. Even if this clone took the majority of the user's chakra, I gathered that this one took a lot more chakra than most to use. He probably made the tag before the clone."

Sarutobi went stock still as a chill went down his back at his Jounin's words. A Sand nin saw this and tried to take advantage of it but ended up getting back handed in the face as Sarutobi's instincts took over shaking him out of his thoughts.

"Who did he bring back?" Sarutobi asked, dreading the answer. With a mind as twisted as his former student's, he could think of a few people that he would have raised but he hoped to Kami that he was wrong.

"Orochimaru brought back four people." Sarutobi flinched at the cold fury in Naruto's voice. It reminded him of a dormant volcano, one that was waiting for just the right time to unleash its fury and destroy everything around it. He understood why when Naruto continued and said "He brought back the first and second Hokage as well as both of my parents."

Sarutobi flinched again as he asked "How are you holding up?" It was obvious the fight was over and Naruto had 'won' it but he had just had the first and last encounter with his parents that he would actually be able to remember and that encounter was those two being brought back from the dead to fight him. He wondered how Orochimaru summoned Minato but put that thought on the back burner until he could have the blond in front of him.

"I'll be having a breakdown tomorrow I'm sure but for now I'm still in this fight sir."

Sarutobi nodded even though Naruto couldn't see it and said "Good. I'm expecting a thorough report tomorrow but for now just help out the rest of the village.""Yes sir. Talk to you then." The line burst into quick static as Naruto cut the link on his end. Sarutobi brought all of his focus back onto the battle around him. He slammed Emma into a roof digging the staff in so that way it stayed standing as he let go and began making hand signs to launch a jutsu at a group of enemy nin who were running towards his group when all of the enemy nin's bodies suddenly toppled forward off their legs. All of the Leaf nin who saw it happen blinked and then flinched when as one, both halves of the bodies suddenly ignited into roaring flames.

A shadow clone appeared next to Sarutobi with a flaming wind sword held in his right hand. Sarutobi kept himself from jumping having sensed the ambient chakra in the air even as he focused on fighting the enemy in front of him. The clone admired his handy work for a moment before it suddenly shouted "Hit the deck!" Immediately after it put action to words and threw himself forward.

Trusting in one of their own, all of the Leaf nin in the area quickly hit the floor. The reason for the shout became apparent as multiple miniature wind dragons shot down the street below them in a row and tore into the enemy nin on the street before rising to the roofs to do the same there. The clone glanced back over his shoulder and saw four of his brothers standing further down the street next to Asuma Sarutobi. As the former member of the Twelve Guardian ninja ran over, the clones disappeared and all of the shinobi who had survived the attack quickly fell to the ground with kunai holes in their skulls.

"You alright there pops?" Asuma asked as he came beside his father.

Sarutobi nodded and said "I may be old, but I can still hold my own."

Asuma gave a nod of his own as all of the Leaf shinobi began moving towards the gate where there were still shinobi trying to get through.

Scene Change: Forrest Outside The Village

Jiraiya looked around the forest before turning to the clone beside him on their perch in one of the tree branches and gave a mock pout as he said "How come you guys never leave any for me?" He gestured to the view around him which involved Sound and Sand nin thrown all over the place including in the trees. Some were groaning in pain but most of them were silent. Some even were smoking in certain places with their clothes still on fire. Standing around the bodies were a couple of Leaf ninja teams who were sealing the chakra of those still alive and taking forehead protectors from those who weren't.

A snort coming from another tree drew the two's attention to where the second clone was leaning against the trunk while standing on another branch. Looking across at their creator's god father with amusement in his eyes, the clone said "Because you're so slow old man. Besides, we left you fifty of them."

"Fifty out of over a thousand. And the other teams took out another hundred of their own." Jiraiya grumbled under his breath causing the two clones to chuckle.

They were brought out of their amusement by the distinct sounds of fireworks shooting up in the sky. Trading looks of confusion, the three males shot up the trees they were standing in. When they reached the top they saw multiple red fireworks going off about a quarter mile further in the forest.

"That looks like a retreat symbol." The clone next to Jiraiya said.

"It is." The other clone said as he pointed to where they could see the main road. Sound and Sand nin were limping down the road as fast as they could while avoiding potshot jutsu that were sent after them.

The first clone frowned and looked at Jiraiya as he asked "Should we pursue them?"

"No. Let them go, we've got more important things to do now that the fighting's over." Jiraiya said as he turned and headed back to the village main gates. The clones gave one last look at the retreating forces before they followed knowing that Jiraiya was right. The Leaf had defended itself from its enemies. Now it had to heal the wounds that had came from the battle.


	18. The Hunt For Tsunade Senju Part One

18. The Hunt For Tsunade Senju Part One

Story Start: Namikaze Household Five Hours After Invasion

Tsunami watched her distant relative and his partner pack their mission scrolls with a frown as she said "I don't know what your Hokage is thinking, sending you two and his student on a retrieval mission five hours after you were invaded. Common sense says that the enemy may try to make another attack through guerilla tactics and your speed could be used to catch them if they do.""Normally I would agree. But the Old Man wants this woman back in the village ASAP. And what the Old Man wants, the Old Man gets." Naruto said as he rolled up his last scroll and placed it in its vest pocket. Across the kitchen table, Haku placed one last group of senbon needles in the storage seal on his right wrist before he walked around and said "I am ready Naruto."

The blond nodded before he faced Tsunami and gave her a hug as he said "You guys stay safe as you travel alright?"

Tsunami nodded and watched as the blond disappeared and the ice wielder stepped through a mirror of the cold water. Sighing, she thought 'It's going to be a lonely two days in this household without those two. Maybe we should leave early as well? After all, I doubt the Hokage would mind getting the key copies for this house a couple of days early.'

Scene Change: Main Village Gate

The two young shinobi appeared in front of the gate beside Jiraiya who started to walk out of them. Nothing was said as Jiraiya increased the pace from civilian walking to Chunnin speed with his current minions both easily matching his pace without complaint. Five hundred yards from the gates they took to the trees and increased their pace to Jounin speed as they headed towards a carnival town twenty miles from the village where Jiraiya believed they could find a possible hint of his teammate's trail.

As they tree hopped, Naruto frowned as he couldn't help thinking about the invasion they had just gone through and the fights he had taken part in. Remembering his fight with his zombiefied father, Naruto thought 'I wonder if I should ask Pervy Sage to teach me Rasengan. He did say he would teach me some time and to work on spinning my chakra in my hands until he did.'

Not two minutes after thinking that, as if reading his mind, Jiraiya said "Naruto, do you remember that time two years ago when I told you to practice shaping your chakra?"

Blinking at the coincidence, Naruto nodded and said "Yeah."

Grinning, the bear of a man unsealed an already filled water balloon and tossed it over and said "This is the first stage of learning Rasengan. I think you've outgrown the 'kid' stage of being a shinobi and won't be demolishing any buildings with it so I can now feel like a responsible adult and begin teaching it to you. Now, for the first stage, you need to spin that water with your chakra so much it literally tears the balloon apart from the inside. Pretty easy right? Wrong. You need more than just one rotation, and separating your chakra enough to get the minimum number of rotations to shred the inside of the balloon at a speed that won't get you killed on the battlefield takes a lot of focus and control. I'm betting it takes you at least ten days to actually get to the point where you can do this stage in two seconds."

Smirking, Naruto said "I'll take that bet. What are the stakes?"

Jiraiya hmmed in thought since he didn't actually expect his god son to take the bet, although when he thought about it, he really should have. Eyes lighting up at the thought he just had, Jiraiya grinned and said "How about this, if you do get to the point of bursting the balloon in two seconds within ten days, without clones helping mind you, I'll teach you my Hidden Shadow Possession Jutsu. But, if you can't do it, you have to teach me how to do that physical transformation of yours. Sound good?"

Naruto hmmed himself as he considered it. It might be hard to meet the deadline without his clones, but considering he already knew how to rotate his chakra in a disc and this was just adding onto it, he could probably make the cut. And the jutsu on the table was a pretty handy one from what Jiraiya had told him about it. The only problem really was what Jiraiya would do with the solid transformation jutsu if he ever learned it. But if he did lose the bet than he wouldn't be responsible for what the old pervert used it for. Grinning, he said "Sounds good to me."

"Well then you better hop to it. Just make sure you don't hit a tree. You _can_ multitask right?" Jiraiya said with a cheeky grin at the end.

Naruto merely flicked a finger at him sending a small gust of wind that went straight into the pervert's ear making him jerk as if he had just been given a wet willie even as he started swirling his chakra in the balloon with his other hand.

Scene Change: Crater Central

Naruto didn't know who decided that naming the small town they were at Crater Central was a good idea, but he thought they must have been either a) seriously concussed, b) drunk off their ass, or c) smoking five different types of weed all mixed together. He was starting to lean towards d) all of the above though as he looked down into the crater as he and his companions walked down one of the staircases leading down into it.

Apparently Haku was having similar thoughts as he looked up from the map of the Land of Fire he had pulled out when Jiraiya told them the name of the town and said "I'm not sure whether I should be confused or grateful that there are no other settlements with the word crater in its name anywhere near this place."

Jiraiya snorted in amusement as he said "I'd stick with grateful."

"Agreed." Naruto said as they reached the bottom of the staircase and melted into the crowd as Jiraiya led them through the streets. Three minutes later he noticed his godfather pickpocket a guy who had wandering fingers himself and then put the guy's spoils in the purse of the woman the perk had stolen from and then proceeded to steal the guy's own wallet without even breaking stride as he walked behind him. Smirking in amusement as Jiraiya looked through the guy's wallet before putting it back without taking anything and moving away from the guy, Naruto shook his head and thought 'Only a spymaster.'

Haku blinked at the sight before he glanced at his partner and said in a low voice "Does he do that often?" Naruto shrugged in the universal way of 'heck if I know' before he snickered as Jiraiya said "Only when I'm bored kid." Haku blushed at being caught talking about the Sannin behind his back but snapped back to attention as Jiraiya said "Ah, here we go, the Lucky Sevens. These guys should know where to start looking."

As the three walked into the gambling hall Jiraiya had brought them to, Naruto said, "Hey Haku, want to see something cool?"

Looking at his partner in slight confusion, the ice user shrugged and said "Uh, sure."

Grinning, the blonde took out a ryo from his wallet and walked over to one of the small slot machines that were kept at the back and slid it into the slot. Still grinning, he turned around to look at Haku who had followed him and pulled on the lever and the machine started spinning its slots. Closing his eyes, Naruto counted to ten in his head before he yanked the handle again three times without pause before he opened his eyes. Haku's eyes got big as each slot stopped with all three 7s on the middle panel and the machine began spewing out its two hundred coin jackpot.

Enjoying Haku's shocked look, Naruto said "I probably have the weirdest case of situational luck out there. I can be given a C-rank mission and have it turned into an A-rank and I can apparently legally make a casino go bankrupt."

Haku blinked as the blond expertly sealed all of the coins except one into a scroll and then handed the coins to him walking past the ice user with a friendly clap on the shoulder and moved towards his god father while pocketing his ryo and ignoring all of the shocked looks of everyone else in the gambling hall who had actually seen the act. Jiraiya himself was chuckling and he ruffled the blonde's hair when he got to his side. Haku blinked again before he sighed and thought 'One of these days I'm finally not going to be surprised by him. I just hope I'm still sane when that day comes.'

Scene Change: Thirty Miles North East of the Hidden Leaf Village Time: 10:00 PM

Two figures made their way through the trees at high Jounin speeds. Both were wearing large black cloaks with red clouds that had collars that went all the way up to their noses and straw hats that left nothing but their eyes visible. The taller of the two had what had to be a giant sword on his back that was wrapped in bandages to look like an obscure kind of mummy. These were Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, two members of Akatuski, and they were currently on the move under orders. Their destination: The Village Hidden In The Leaves. Their mission: Recon and possibly capture. Their target: One Naruto Uzumaki.

Their travel plans were put on temporary hold though as they saw a figure suddenly appearing from a tree branch ten yards in front of them. They stopped on the branch in front of the person who looked like someone had melted whole vats of black and white crayons and dipped him in it and what looked like a Venus fly trap on his shoulders. This was Zetsu, Akatsuki's spy.

Kisame frowned as he looked at the spy and said "Zetzu, what are you doing here? We haven't even reached the village yet so you can't be here about a report."

The black half of Zetsu frowned as he said _"I'm afraid that new Intel has come up in regards to your mission."_ The white half grinned as he continued "Eight hours ago, during the final exams of the Chunnin Exams, the Hidden Leaf Village was invaded by the Hidden Sound and Sand Village."

"Yes, we were aware of Orochimaru's plan to do so thanks to Sasori. We are going to use the chaos from it to slip into the village unhindered. What of it?" Itachi asked coolly.

Still grinning, the white half said "Well, things didn't turn out quite as planned. Not only did the invasion fail spectacularly, it was pretty much sent packing by just one shinobi. Naruto Uzumaki, or as he will soon be known the world over, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze."

Itachi's eyes widened just slightly as he thought 'The news of Naruto's full heritage does not surprise me, but how could he have single handedly repulsed an invasion of two shinobi villages?'

Kisame though raised an eyebrow as he said "Oh? So our target is actually the son of the late Yellow Flash hm?" Gaining a grin that could be likened to a cat getting the canary, the shark nin said "Should be fun fighting him then."

"_I seriously doubt that considering he took on four Edo Tensei kage level opponents at the same time and won pretty easily. The first, second, and fourth Hokage and the Red Death Kushina Uzumaki to be exact. And then there's the fact that he took out somewhere around eighty percent of the invasion force by himself through use of his shadow clones."_ the black half said with a bigger frown.

'That answers it.' Itachi thought with a frown. A jinchuriki, something almost always classed as an army destroyer when trained right, coupled with access to shadow clones? Any poor fool going up against someone like that should give their soul to whatever god or goddess they believed in because their ass was well and truly that jinchuriki's new play thing. This..._complicated_ things.

Even Kisame frowned when he heard that their target had taken on four Kage level opponents at the same time and won. Eyes shifting into full on shinobi mode, a _very_ rare occurrence for the shark nin, he said "So what does Leader want us to do?"

"_Latest Intel says that shortly after the invasion, Naruto Namikaze left the village with his partner, Haku Momochi under the command of Jiraiya of the Sannin. We have confirmed them to currently be in Crater Central where they will be staying for the night." _"Leader's orders are to track them but to not engage until the Zombie Pair rendezvous with you. You are to allow them to engage the jinchuriki to determine his threat level and attempt capture while you two deal with his traveling companions."

Itachi closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them and said "Very well."

Zetsu nodded before his form began sinking into the tree branch he was on. The white half grinned as he said _"Good Luck." _"You're going to need it!"

As soon as they were gone, Kisame's frown grew as he said "I can't believe we won't actually get to fight this kid. I mean, he's your target isn't he?"

Itachi allowed a small frown onto his own face now that he was alone with his partner before he sighed and said "Yes he is, but something is telling me that I should be thankful for the cannon fodder Leader is providing us."

Kisame blinked as he said "Cannon fodder?" Now grinning, he said "It's unlike you to use such uncouth words Itachi."

Itachi's frown remained as he said "And yet I feel that is exactly what they will be." Turning to face their new destination, Itachi said "Come, we are wasting time." and then jumped to the next branch. Kisame frowned again before he quickly leapt after his partner.

Scene Change: Hidden Sound Base

Orochimaru allowed the smallest hiss of pain to leave his lips as his second in command rubbed burn cream over his fourth degree burns. Fuming to himself at having to be waited on like this, he asked "What is the progress of our search?"

Kabuto wiped his hands on the cloth he had placed on the near by table and sealed the jar the cream came in as he said "We have narrowed it down to a group of five villages in the Land of Fire. We should know for sure within a few days."

"Good. The sooner we find my old teammate, the sooner I will be free of these accursed burns." Orochimaru said while thinking about the person said burns came from, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Just thinking about the blond brought a sneer to his lips before he frowned as he thought about the blond. Part of him couldn't help but think about what he could do with that boy's body as his host. The power of the Kyuubi at his disposal, the sheer speed that would allow him to move faster than the human eye could ever hope to comprehend. The sheer amount of chakra the boy possessed that would allow him to perform S-ranked jutsu for hours non stop. Unfortunately, these thoughts were merely a pipe dream.

The boy had wasted no time completely decimating the revived Kage and his mother that his blood clone had set on him. There was absolutely no way to mark him and even thinking about possessing him was laughable. However, when he received the memories from his clone he had noticed something that had given him a glint of hope. When the brat had fought his father he had not used those thrice damned tri pronged kunai, and still won his fight. This meant that the kunai might not have been the key to the Fourth's jutsu as many had thought. Which meant that the jutsu was most likely actually a bloodline effect. If he could just get his hands on a DNA sample of the blond, he just might be able to replicate it. It really was a shame that the sample of the Fourth he had managed to acquire had already been used for the failed edo tensei.

Frown softening in thought, Orochimaru considered his possible options before he said "Kabuto, I have a side project I want you to begin working on."

Scene Change: Crater Central, The Next Day

Jiraiya, Haku, and Naruto sat around one of the beds of their hotel room with a map of the Land of Fire around them. Jiraiya was drawing a line across it with a pencil as he said "Thanks to one of my new friends I met yesterday at the Lucky Sevens, we now know where Tsunade's been in the past three months. Almost all of the towns she has passed through contain large casinos. Now, her current path suggests that she is heading to Tanzaku Gai. Considering there is a rather large poker tournament taking place there in just over a week's time, I am fairly confident in saying this is where she will be within the next seven days."

"We better get moving then." Haku said and the other two nodded. Glancing at his godson as he rolled up his map, Jiraiya said "Naruto, I want you to get us there as quick as possible. We don't know with any accuracy what day Tsunade is going to get there and I want to start performing sweeps of the city for her as soon as possible."

Naruto nodded and walked over to his pack. Slinging it over his shoulders, he waited for his two traveling companions to do the same and then all three left the hotel room. As the door closed, a crow that had been sitting on the roof of the building opposite of the hotel blinked before it took off to inform its summoner of the conversation that had taken place.

Scene Change: Tanzaku Gai One Hour Later

Naruto stood on top of the Gilded Goose, the casino the poker tournament was going to be held looking over the village. Behind him was a squadron of twelve super charged shadow clones that had almost all of their creator's chakra reserves in them as well as equipped with ten chakra pills each who were being assigned orders. The clones were separated into four teams with each of their headbands either red, yellow, blue, or green with a number between one to four replacing the leaf symbol.

"I want squads red, yellow, and blue to maintain a thin perimeter chakra barrier around the village. Make it as large as you can without having to resort to using more than one of your chakra pills on the first day. If anyone with shinobi level chakra comes through let me know. Squad Green, I want you to spread through the village and sweep for any chakra presences that is higher than Chunnin level. If you pick any up, triangulate their positions and radio it in. You all should have enough chakra and chakra pills to perform your duties for two weeks. Contact me if you do happen to require a chakra infusion. Now, scatter!"

The twelve clones all gave quick salutes before they disappeared into the slipstream and left to perform their tasks. Taking one last look out the village, he joined the slipstream as well and took off to the outskirts to continue working the first stage of the Rasengan. He was already up to five rotations at the same time, but he needed at least five more and to work on his speed in creating them.

Time Skip: Five Days Later

Naruto frowned in concentration as he worked to keep the Rasengan stable inside its balloon for more than ten seconds. He had managed to finish the first stage of the jutsu on the fourth day winning his bet with his god father. The second stage had gone even quicker considering Naruto's rather ridiculously large chakra reserves that had made it rather easy to provide the overwhelming power needed for that stage. Now he was working on containment, something that was obviously needed in this jutsu if one was to take in the sorry state of the particular field Naruto was working in.

Naruto lost concentration as his radio crackled and mentally cursed as the Rasengan in his hand blew up just as spectacularly as the ones before it causing him to miss what was said over the radio. Sighing, he tapped his radio and said "This is Alpha, please repeat that last transmission."

His voice came over in a slightly sheepish tone as the clone on the other end said "This is Yellow Three, we have a situation with the perimeter field. Something has been absorbing the chakra in the north east section and just before I lost our ability to scan the area I picked up four very large chakra signatures that are at _least_ low kage level heading towards the town with one signature as big as a Jinchuriki's. At the rate they were traveling, ETA to the town is five minutes."

"Oh that's not good." Naruto said, mind already flashing to a very secretive group of S-rank missing nin his godfather had told him he was trying to gather information on last year. Looks like the Pervy Sage was going to be able to get some Intel today. Call it jumping to conclusions, but four ninja traveling together with all of them having that level of chakra reserves left a very little number of possibilities as to their origins. The only question was whether or not this group was planning on using the upcoming tourney to help finance whatever goals their group had or if they were just going to raze the town and take what they wanted. Frowning, Naruto said "All units, this is Alpha. Maintain the perimeter as well as you can. Green leader, find Jiraiya and Haku and inform them of what is going on. Yellow Three, I will be with you momentarily. Maintain your position and await my arrival." Naruto waited just long enough for the clones to confirm their orders before he joined the slipstream and rushed towards Yellow Three's position thinking 'I really hope these guys aren't who I think they might be. It could really throw a wrench in our plans if we had to fight these guys.'

Scene Change: Yellow Three's Position: One Thousand Feet Past Tanzaku Gai's Outskirts.

Yellow Three was hidden in one of the few trees that could be found in his section as he waited for his creator. Turning his head to the side when he felt him arrive, he saw him land in the tree branch next to him with a frown on his face.

"Any sign of them?" Naruto asked looking out over the fields that encircled the entire city.

Y3 shook his head with a frown on his own face as he said "I can't sense them anymore, but we should have a visual on them in three minutes."

Naruto sighed as he said "They probably immediately picked up on the perimeter barrier as soon as it touched them and are now hiding their presence. They might even be working on coming into the village from another route now."

"Or maybe even waiting until tonight to enter." G1 said as he and the rest of Green squad appeared around them with Jiraiya and Haku among their ranks.

"Either way, I want to know who these four are. Anyone with as high as chakra reserves as these people have should be monitored to the best of your abilities regardless of the situation. Especially if there is more than one of them together." Jiraiya said taking out his spy glass which had been sealed the ever loving hell out of with a complete 'spy gear' seal set on it that all ANBU had on their binoculars and began sweeping it across the planes. Naruto frowned at the sight of it promising himself to get a pair of binoculars of his own sometime.

He would have gotten them before but the things were so darn expensive. Oh not the binoculars themselves, those were easy to get. It was the seals on them that were the problem. You had Infrared, Night vision, x-ray, chakra vision and zoom seals all on a small piece of optical equipment and they all loved to mess with each other. And if you didn't get those seals _just_ right when you applied them, well, lets just say the results weren't pretty. Naruto had seen one Jounin try to do it himself and the poor fool had practically blinded himself and could now only see in black and white. Naruto may have been good with seals, but there was no way he was going to risk that kind of optical damage just to have a spiffy new toy. He'd rather wait for the set that you received as a 'congratulations for being so hard to kill' present that every shinobi got after thirty years of service to the village. Of course, he could requisition a pair through asking the Old Man, but he didn't want to take advantage of the relationship he had with the old leader just for a new toy.

He was brought out of those thoughts by Jiraiya saying "There they are. Two O'clock, about a quarter mile out. They're using a variation of the Chameleon Jutsu to travel down that side road that skims the outskirts without being seen. Too bad they can't use it to hide their heat signatures though. Damn, that tall one has a lot of chakra. Even with how well he's hiding it, it's still getting picked up on chakra vision. And that thing he's carrying on his back seems to be eating any foreign chakra around it and looks like a long sword. I would bet half my bank account that's Kisame Hoshigaki we're dealing with."

All of the blondes' frowned as the original said "So chances are very high that's the Akatsuki group we're dealing with right? After all, you did say last year that you thought he could be a member."

"Considering I had actually received confirmation on that last month, then yeah, I would say that it is very likely. And it's a pretty good bet that Itachi Uchiha is there as well since rumor has it he's Kisame's partner now." Jiraiya said with a frown on his face. Taking the spy scope away from his face, his frown grew as he turned to his godson and said "It's official kid. You have got the worst luck when it comes to missions sometimes. These guys couldn't have chosen a worst time to show their mugs around here."

Snorting, Naruto said "No arguments from me on the count of luck, but I have to disagree on their timing. It would have been a lot worst if they appeared on the day of the tournament."

"Hm, point taken. Still we need to get rid of these guys. Preferably without leveling the town behind us in the process." Jiraiya said as he put his spy glass back to his eye and did a quick sweep around the area to see if anyone else was around that could get caught in the crossfire.

"Normally I would say to just let me make a run at them while I was in the slipstream, but these guys' instincts are probably just as good as Orochimaru's if not better and that didn't really work out so well when I tried it on him in the forest of death. We're going to have to actually engage them. Still, we should be able to minimize collateral damage if we go now." Naruto said as he performed his own scan of the area with his senses while wishing he could let off a chakra pulse but knowing that would be a rather bad idea considering their opponents.

Haku stared at the two with a slack jaw as he said "You two are crazy. You're talking about taking on four S-class shinobi at the same time like you're discussing what type of soda to buy for the week. And not just any shinobi but Kisame Hoshigaki the tailless tailed beast and Itachi Uchiha, the man who single handedly slaughtered his whole clan in one day, leaving no one but his brother alive."

Naruto smirked at his partner as he said "Haku, my friend, you are forgetting just exactly _who_ we are. Pervy Sage here was able to actually survive an encounter with Hanzo the freaking Salamander and not even a week ago I took on four undead kage level opponents simultaneously and won pretty easily all things considered. Between the two of us I think we can handle a few S-class criminals."

Jiraiya smirked as well and said "The brat's right, we'll be fine. Still, you should stay here where it's relatively safe. You're still not at the level that will be required to keep all of your body parts in this kind of fight. We'll take care of these guys and then we'll all go back to doing what we were before these guys decided to show up. Let's go Naruto."

"Right. Green Squad, you guys are with us. Form a ring around us and keep these guys from getting out while we deal with them. Only join in to help if I'm otherwise engaged." Naruto said before he grabbed Jiraiya and joined the slipstream with his clones following a second later.

Haku sighed and lowered his head in a dejected manner as he said "Why did I have to get partnered with the crazy one?" Y3 chuckled from his position causing Haku to become even more depressed.

Scene Change: A Quarter Mile Away

The four members of Akatsuki were making their way to Tanzaku Gai with as much stealth as possible. They had detected the chakra perimeter field as soon as it had touched their skins and so knew that someone in the village was expecting someone to be coming. There was very little chance of the target being them but considering someone would be checking it out, they had to be somewhere else if they wanted to avoid drawing attention to themselves.

Three of the members of Akatsuki spun around to look at Itachi who had been walking in the back when the man actually screamed in pain and brought his hands to his eyes a split second before they all felt a virtual tsunami of chakra that was most definitely _not_ one of theirs sweep around them and settle. As Itachi tried to open his now Sharingan less eyes to see, the four Akatsuki were suddenly surrounded by four blonds forming a box with the corners one hundred feet apart and another blond and a white haired man standing behind Itachi making the other three members' eyes widen as they all thought 'Fast!'

Naruto stepped away from his god father as he observed his opponents. Raising an eyebrow at the Waterfall headband on the one standing next to a Jashinist, he said "Since when has the Waterfall village produced shinobi that warrant an S rank in the bingo book?"

Snorting, Jiraiya said "That would have been seventy years ago kid. Which means we've got Kakuzu the heart stealer here. Better be a little more careful than usual around him. He stole the village's Earth Grudge Fear Jutsu and is known for ripping out the hearts of his opponents if they use the right element that he needs to have a full set of all of the primary elements."

Kakuzu's eyes narrowed as he said "You are well informed Jiraiya of the Sannin. Your bounty will provide a great deal of funding for our group."

Jiraiya shrugged and said "Intelligence gathering is what I do. And speaking of your group, care to give me a members' list?"

Naruto snorted drawing everyone's attention to him as he said "So we've got Itachi Uchiha, the man wanted for an extreme case of parricide, Kisame Hoshigaki, the man wanted for assassinating the Land of Water's Daimyo, Kakuzu, the man the Hidden Waterfall sent after the Leaf's First Hokage's head seventy years ago, and some emo Jashinist. Going up against Jiraiya of the Sannin and an unofficially ranked double S-class shinobi who is just as fast as the Fourth Hokage. Yeah, this fight won't last long at all."

"Hey! Don't disrespect me you little punk! I'll sacrifice your ass to Lord Jashin!" The Jashinist yelled out at Naruto.

Naruto noticed Kakuzu roll his eyes before he said "Hidan shut up."

The now introduced Hidan turned his head to his partner and said "Fuck you Kakuzu! I-" Whatever else was about to be said was cut off as a small wind dragon slammed into the man's body tearing a huge hole out of it right where his heart and lungs were situated. Hidan blinked before he looked down and saw the rather large hole in his chest before his head shot back up and he screamed at Naruto "That hurt Mother Fucker!"

"My mother died the day I was born moron, and it's supposed to hurt. Now why don't you be a good little psychotic murderer and let me cut you to a dozen pieces." Naruto deadpanned before he was suddenly right in front of Hidan with his foot kicking the man away from the other three before he disappeared again. Hidan managed to land on his feet only for the blond to reappear again beside him pulling on a ninja string that was wrapped around the Jashinist causing it to tighten and leaving the Jashinist unable to move. Looking out of the corner of his eye he saw the man's partner not making a move while Jiraiya and the other Akatsuki pair was simply watching as well caused him to grin as he said "Looks like you're not very well liked around here."

"Fuck you! You better untie me or I'll sacrifice you to Lord Jashin!" Hidan shouted.

Naruto sighed as he said "Blah, blah, blah. Shut up." The blond then took off running circles around the guy at a speed that made it look like the was a blurred wall around the evil priest as the blond began singing "Ring around the rosy, pockets full of posy, ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" The blond came out of his run on the side opposite of where he had started with a wind sword in his hand. Pushing his other hand against Hidan, he pushed the Jashinist to the ground and cackled as the man literally fell apart into thirty different pieces like a stack of checkers that was knocked over.

Kisame began laughing at the sight as Hidan said "Jashin damn it! That hurt you mother fucking piece of shit. Ow!" Naruto apparently didn't take well to being called that a second time as he slammed his foot into the priest's nose shattering it. He started to bend down to pick up the guy's head but suddenly disappeared as a bolt of lighting passed right where he had been an instant later. He reappeared behind Kakuzu with his flaming right hand stuck inside Kakuzu's body before he ripped it out revealing he had a heart in his hand before he incinerated it and disappeared again to avoid the tendrils that had shot out of the missing nin's back trying to ensnare him.

Reappearing next to his godfather who still hadn't engaged the other two, he said "I know I said this fight wouldn't last long, but you would think a couple of S-ranks could defend themselves a little bit better."

This earned more shouting from Hidan and a growl from Kakuzu as he ripped his cloak off exposing his bare back that was covered in animal masks Three masks suddenly shot off his back and formed into animals made out of thread and Naruto rose an eyebrow as he said "Well that's new." He then joined the slipstream and reappeared in front of Kakuzu with his foot already in the missing nin's face kicking him away before he spun in the air and sent a barrage of wind senbon at the mask creatures causing them to scatter. He disappeared as soon as hit the ground and all three masks were suddenly shredded to dust from the wind jutsu that the blond unleashed.

As this was happening, the other Akatsuki pair made their own move as Kisame's shark skin sword Samahada had eaten most of the chakra that was surrounding the pair allowing Itachi to activate his sharingan again and send a small blast of black fire at the Sannin. Jiraiya dodged the black flames only to have to replace himself with a log as a large shark made out of water slammed into where he had just been. As he dodged a regular colored fireball, he saw Naruto standing over Kakuzu's body with the final heart in his hand as the blond burned it and thought 'So much for those two being a problem.' He then took out a kunai and channeled earth chakra in it to block Kisame's sword only to swear as he felt the sword eating the chakra and he used all of his strength to deflect the blade to the side causing it to slam into the ground beside his feet as he jumped away.

Kisame raised the sword and came after him with it again only for the blade to once again be stopped by a chakra infused kunai. Only this chakra was multicolored and condensed to the point that it formed a solid looking Tanto. Kisame only had time to blink in surprise at the small bit of trouble his sword was having eating the denser chakra before he found a foot in his face and a kunai in his sword arm's shoulder.

As the shark nin skidded backwards, G1 ran through hand signs along with his brothers who were standing on either side of him and as one they shouted "Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!" All four clones blasted the shark nin over a thousand feet back with winds that made a Category 4 hurricane's winds seem like a gentle breeze. Ending the jutsu, G1 looked over his shoulder and said "We'll leave Itachi to you and the boss." He then joined the slipstream and shot after Kisame with his brothers joining him as he jumped and slammed a chakra infused fist into the temporarily flying missing nin's stomach sending him into the ground and forming a slightly impressive three feet wide crater.

Jiraiya blinked as the original Naruto reappeared next to his side before he pouted as he looked over at his godson and said "You guys are taking all my fun."

Naruto smirked as he brought his hands up in the ram sign and said "Actually start doing something besides dodging and I might consider letting you help. You were the one who said we should take care of them quickly. Release!" The world around them shattered like glass as a visible pulse of chakra shot out of Naruto and the Itachi in front of them disappeared while another Itachi on Jiraiya's other side that was revealed quickly turned his Sharingan off to avoid being temporarily blinded a second time by the visible chakra.

"Cheeky brat." Jiraiya muttered even as his hair rose up splitting in two with a half over every shoulder and began spitting out senbon needles made of hair like one of those 'Gatlin' guns the Daimyo was having installed inside the guard towers of his palace. In response Itachi used the substitution jutsu to seemingly break apart into a flock of clones only for him to get a sandaled foot to the face courtesy of Naruto and was sent flying back before he landed on his back and quickly rolled into a crouch.

Getting up from his own crouch, Naruto said "I've been wondering something fan boy." He grinned at the vein that twitched on Itachi's face at the nickname as he continued "What is the real reason you killed off all of your clan? It couldn't have been to just test yourself since there were quite a few children and even a couple of babies in the group that couldn't even lift a shuriken yet. So what was it? Did your family just annoy you one too many times one day and you just snapped or are the rumors I had heard at the time that members of the clan were planning a coup just a little too close to the truth for your comfort?"

Itachi's face remained a stoic mask as Naruto asked his question but Naruto saw the briefest flash of something flicker behind Itachi's eyes and he said "Ah, so that's what happened. You know that really does answer so much. Except for why you decided to torture your brother for the equivalent of three days in that Genjutsu of yours. I can understand the fact that you couldn't kill the guy but to torture him instead?"

"You know too much, and yet you still do not understand." Itachi replied as his sharingan made it's third appearance and morphed into Mangekyo form hoping to catch the blond in a Tsukiyomi as soon as it finished forming. Unfortunately for him, Naruto had caught sight of the red filling his eyes and had already began looking at his chest even as he pushed chakra out of his body to surround the three in a field of highly visible chakra within the span of a second. Itachi had to hold back a scream of pain as his sharingan got a one second blast of way too much chakra to see properly before he managed to turn it off.

'Damn it! Not again!' Itachi thought before he heard his target say "Taijutsu only from this point Pervy Sage. I don't want anymore of that black fire of his coming out and I can't guarantee any of your jutsu will work properly with this much chakra in the air."

"Very well." Jiraiya said as Itachi opened his eyes again only to see the blurry form of Jiraiya's fist shooting towards his face at terminal velocity. He shifted his head to the side to avoid it only to be thrown backwards by an elbow slammed into his stomach courtesy of Naruto.

As the two leaf shinobi began picking Itachi apart in tandem, Green Squad was having their own fun with Kisame. G2 had already gotten the man's sword away from him by hitting a pressure point in the man's arm with a wind senbon and blasting the sword away with a Gale Palm jutsu and now the four were just beating the snot out of him while he tried to defend. He was already bruised from head to toe and the clones had broken each individual bone in his arms making them completely useless. Now they were taking him apart piece by piece by running kunai over his body as they passed. What made it worse was the fact that the cuts weren't even that deep but were so numerous that he had already lost more than two pints of blood so far.

G1 drew one last slash across Kisame's back before he slipped out of the slipstream as the shark nin's eyes finally rolled up to the back of his head and he fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes. The rest of his squad also reappeared as they looked down at the fallen nin and G3 whistled a little as he said "Tough old bastard wasn't he?"

"Tough, but not tough enough." G2 said before he looked over his shoulder and saw the original Naruto drop Itachi to his knees with a kick to the back of one of them. Jiraiya then proceeded to knock the man out with a knife hand to the back of the neck causing him to finish the fall to the ground. Chuckling, he said "Looks like the boss is done playing as well."

G1 slapped a stasis seal on the man's body and his wounds stopped bleeding as G2 and 3 picked up his legs and began dragging the man towards their creator who was in the process of sealing Itachi inside a stasis scroll while Jiraiya sealed away the black flames that the Uchiha had brought into existence. When they reached the original blond they were joined by G4 who was holding the shark nin's sword inside an air prison earning raised eyebrows from everybody. Seeing them, he said "The thing tried to send a spike through my hand when I grabbed it."

The original blinked before he grinned and said "Security system on a sword. Now that's one I haven't heard before." Then he frowned as he looked at Kisame and said "Okay, we held off killing Itachi since new information shows that he didn't exactly go as bat shit insane as we thought when he killed his clan but why the hell didn't you kill blue gill here?"

G1 shrugged and said "We figured Pervy Sage would like the chance to interrogate him before we offed the guy. Either him or Ibiki back in the village."

Naruto rose an eyebrow before he looked over at Jiraiya. The spymaster shrugged and said "Eh, can't hurt to have him for when I'm done picking Itachi's brain of everything concerning Akatsuki." The Sannin sealed the shark nin and his sword into one scroll before he bit his thumb and summoned a toad about twice the size of a non summon adult. Holding the scroll in front of the toad, he said "Please give this to Gamatoride to hold onto." The toad croaked in affirmative before its tongue shot out and wrapped around the scroll and brought it back into its mouth before it went back to the summoning realm.

Once he was gone, Jiraiya said "Well, fun's over." Looking over at where Hidan was still cursing worse than ten sailors all drunk off their asses, he said "Now what should we do with him? There's no way he's going to know anything important but I'd rather not leave him there."

"Leave that to us." G1 said before he gestured for his brothers to follow him and he walked over and sealed all of the body parts into a scroll. Sealing Kakuzu's body in another, he said "I'll take this guy's body to the Hokage, I'm sure the Hunter corps would love to get their hands on his body. As for silverback, I think we'll scatter him across the continent."

Jiraiya nodded and said "That will work."

G1 nodded and said "Then we'll see you when we get back tomorrow." He then joined the slipstream and was quickly followed by the rest of Green Squad.

Cleanup now done, Naruto and Jiraiya turned towards Y3's position and began walking back. As they walked, Jiraiya chuckled and said "You know your partner's going to be driven up the wall when we tell him about this right?"

Naruto gained a fox grin as he said "Absolutely."

Ten minutes later, Zetsu's head appeared as it rose from the ground and he frowned as he thought _'Leader is not going to be happy about this'_


	19. The Hunt For Tsunade Senju Part Two

19. The Hunt For Tsunade Senju Part Two

Story Start: Weary Walker Inn, One Hour After Fight With Akatsuki

Itachi showed no outward signs of regaining consciousness when he finally came to after Jiraiya knocked him out. He had to keep himself from groaning though when he finished assessing as much of his situation that he could with his eyes closed and not moving a muscle. He could tell that he was being held in a standing position with rope pulling his arms as far out as possible at an upward angle without dislocating something, with his legs secured just as well to the floor and his chakra was barely circulating, slow like molasses pointing to the fact that it was sealed by a master seal master. Although considering who had captured him that was to be expected.

He added seals that monitored his condition to the mental list when he heard a young voice he recognized from the fight say "Glad you could join us in the land of the awake Uchiha."

Seeing no reason to tempt the young blond with a reason to start poking him, Itachi opened his black eyes and his list suddenly went from four items to a full two page report as he took in the room that was literally covered in seals. Hell, even the carpet of the entry way opposite him had pulsing seal paper on it. He recognized six different types of barriers alone, and that didn't even include the two barriers that prevented any kind of chakra from being detected inside the room. Kami knows what the other five seal groups were supposed to do. But what really caught his attention was the seal that the blond Jounin had in front of him. It was on a ten by fifteen inch sheet of glass and seemed to be showing all of his bio stats. Glancing down at his shirtless torso, he saw the chakra inhibiting seal over his navel and what had to be the monitoring seals covering everything else.

Looking back up, he felt a shiver go down his spine at the grim smile on Naruto's face as the younger Jounin said "I know you can't see them, but you've got seals around your eyes ready to completely destroy your Sharingan at the first hint of detecting any chakra going to them, so on the very low chance you can actually activate them at the moment, I would strongly recommend you don't try anything with them."

Naruto stood from the bed he had been sitting on as he said "Also, don't bother trying to lie to us." tapping the glass he was holding, the blond said "This thing picks up everything that's going on with you, including if you lie or not. And don't bother trying to rely on Anbu training to beat it, because it's linked directly to your brain on that count."

Turning and lightly tossing the glass onto the mattress, he said "But that little toy's for Jiraiya once he comes to pick your brain apart for all the juicy bits of Intelligence you can give him." Walking over to stand in front of Itachi and looking into his onyx eyes with his own orbs of sapphire, Naruto said "I have a different way of getting my info and I'm here for a completely different reason altogether. You are going to tell me just what the hell is wrong with you and why turning your younger brother into such a security risk for the Village we serve seemed to be such a good idea." The blonde's eyes suddenly went from sapphire to multicolored and the area around them seemed to fade away only to be replaced with a storming sea that had hundred foot waves surging around them and the worst tropical storm the world had ever seen over their heads spewing lighting every few seconds as rain pounded down on the two figures.

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

"He's all yours." Naruto said as he walked past Jiraiya in the hallway with plans to get something to eat. Jiraiya rose an eyebrow at how the blond seemed to be a little off but shook it off and walked over to the door of their hotel room and opened it up. His eyebrow rose a second time though as Itachi was slumped over sucking in big breaths as if he was nearly drowned and the spymaster wondered just what the blond had been doing in the room.

Scene Change: Two Days Later (Day Of The Poker Tournament), 7:00 AM Naruto's Appropriated Training Field

It was two hours before the poker tournament would start when the perimeter team announced Tsunade's arrival. As Naruto heard one of his clones report the sighting, he stopped working on stabilizing the Rasengan without any help from a Shadow Clone and thought 'She certainly took her time getting here. Although considering how high any bounties she has must be, it could be done on purpose as a security measure.'

Shaking his head of that thought, he turned towards the town and said "Well, I guess it's show time." He joined the slipstream and made his way over to the Gilded Goose. Pouting at the reminder of so much potential money that he was not allowed to get, Naruto thought 'I still can't believe Jiraiya was cruel enough to ban me from entering this tournament. I mean, what's wrong with having a clone sit in for me while we make sure no one gets to Tsunade before we do?'

Shaking his head again, he slipped out of the slipstream and reappeared just outside of the casino and walked over to where he could see Jiraiya and Haku. Jiraiya was talking with the man in charge of security in the casino about how the team from the Hidden Leaf Village swore once again not to help anyone cheat and that if they were caught doing so the punishment could be anything. Quite stupid really when you considered the fact that they weren't even there for the tournament but for one of the contestants, but what can you do with a paranoid member of security who is always looking for guys trying to cheat?

He shook his head again and mildly amused thought that he had taken to doing that way to often before he tugged on Jiraiya's sleeve and said "Tsunade's just entered the chakra perimeter. She'll be here in about fifteen minutes."

Jiraiya nodded and thanked him before he told his two temporary subordinates to go to their assigned exits where they would intercept Tsunade when she left. After all, they might as well allow her to 'enjoy' one last tournament before they brought her back to the Village, even if Naruto had to drag her through the slipstream by her legs to do so. Not that the blonde would actually go that far since nobody alive would be able to react fast enough or be able to fight against the g-forces that such speed produced once he grabbed hold of them, but it was the general idea that counts.

He was shaken from those thoughts when he saw their target walking down the street beside a black haired woman who was holding a pig that was wearing a red vest and a string of pearls around her neck. Naruto blinked before he confirmed that yes, that pig was indeed wearing pearls, and ones of pretty good quality as well. Shaking his head at some of the things people do with their pets, he pushed the talk button on his radio and said "I have eyes on target, she should be entering the building in less than five minutes."

'Understood. Better settle yourselves in boys, Tsunade's gambling luck has the odd tendency of pulling through for her whenever something bad is about to happen. And I'd recon a visit from her old teammate who has orders to return her to the village will count in her book."

"Roger." Naruto and Haku said before they both settled down for a wait, as long or short as it turned out to be.

Time Skip Ten Hours

Naruto had never been more glad for Shadow Clones which could do food runs for him and Haku. True to Jiraiya's word, Tsunade seemed to hold out for a full ten hours before she finally let her temporarily fantastic gambling luck put her on enough of an edge to bow out of the tournament and left the casino with plans to begin preparations to get the hell out of Tanzaku Gai. It's just too bad the entrance she chose was the one the original Naruto was posted at.

As the door opened and Tsunade and the woman, who Jiraiya had told him and Haku was Shizune her apprentice, walked out and towards the exit of the alley, Naruto came out of the slipstream blocking said exit with Green Squad flanking him. The two women paused and Naruto saw Tsunade's eyes focus on his headband just long enough to see the village insignia before her eyes shot around looking for another escape avenue. When Yellow Squad appeared behind them and Blue and Red squads appeared on the roofs of the casino and the building next to it, she frowned and said "I have nothing to say to shinobi of the Leaf."

"Really? Because I personally think you have a lot of explaining to do Lady Tsunade. But that is not for me to decide. The only thing I get to decide right now is how much force I need to use if you don't decide to cooperate with me and my team in returning to the Leaf Village." The original Naruto said as he folded his arms across his chest.

This seemed to amuse Tsunade and she let out a humorless chuckle and said "Kid, you are over five decades away from being able to handle me. Now let us pass."

Naruto's eyes narrowed as he said "You seem to be under the impression that you can order me around like a subordinate and are stronger than me. You are wrong on both counts. I can kill you so quickly it's not even funny, and it has been a long time since you've had the authority to order anyone around. No, there are two outcomes to this Lady Tsunade, either you allow me and my clones here to escort you and your apprentice to the hotel where me and my team are staying or I get rid of your ability to move and carry you there anyway. Those are your only two choices."

Tsunade snarled as she said "Well I chose option three: beating you to a pulp!" She charged at the original as fast as she could intent on creaming the punk only to be surprised when the blond sighed before he seemed to disappear. But before she could wonder where the brat went, Naruto appeared behind her facing back into the alley with his right hand already on the collar of her shirt and his arm throwing her over his head and down onto the asphalt of the alley directly in front of him. Tsunade only allowed herself a split second of surprise while she was in the air, and as soon as she hit the asphalt, her leg was already trying to sweep Naruto off his feet even as she began to get back up. Naruto avoided it though by joining the slipstream and disappearing from human sight.

Tsunade frowned as she tried to find the pest and she slowly spun on the spot as her eyes scanned the entire alley. Then she felt a weight on her head and she heard "Whatcha looking for Doc?" Shizune's jaw dropped as Naruto reappeared doing a one handed handstand on Tsunade's head with his right hand while eating a celery stick with his left like he had no cares in the world whatsoever. Tsunade's eye twitched, but just as she began bringing her right arm up to hit the preteen, said blond seemed to flicker to a position in the air behind her with his chakra filled right foot already connecting with her right ear and she went flying into the alley wall five feet away leaving a small spider web of cracks where she hit.

Naruto landed on the asphalt still chewing on his snack. He cocked his head to the side and lowered the half eaten stick of celery as he said "You know, I really expected you to have better control of your emotions considering how good of a medic you are. Don't you guys have to stay calm no matter what the situation is?"

Tsunade growled before she spun around and tapped the ground with her heel causing the alley and the two buildings framing it to shake from the miniature earthquake it caused as the area in front of her exploded upwards. But to her frustration, any debris that got within a couple of inches of the young shinobi was suddenly turned into dust, and the brat had the nerve to start eating his celery again like nothing was happening!

She was about to try using a Genjutsu to stall the blond enough to get one good hit on him when one of the clones said "Hey Boss, don't you think we should keep the collateral damage down?"

"Good point. Guess I should finish this." The original said tossing the last of the celery in his mouth and chewing twice before swallowing as he shifted into a loose attack stance with his hands in half ram signs. Tsunade was about to make a snaky remark to that before the Uzumaki disappeared again and immediately afterwards, Tsunade crashed to the floor as Naruto hit four pressure points that completely robbed her CNS of its ability to control her four limbs.

Naruto reappeared kneeling on his right knee and looking down at her. When her head snapped up at his appearance, he shook his head as he said "I did give you a fair warning Lady Tsunade, now I've got to carry you to the Hotel Just be glad that no one is going to be seeing this." Looking up past her to Shizune who was looking at Naruto with awe and a bit of fear, he said "You will come willingly right? I'd rather not have to do the same to you as I did to your stubborn master."

Shizune shook her head and said "I won't be trouble." 'The speed this kid has is unbelievable, no wonder they made him a Jounin.'

Naruto nodded before he pressed a button on his radio and said "This is Naruto, I've got Tsunade and her apprentice and am heading back to the hotel. I'll send a clone for you both." He waited for Haku and Jiraiya to confirm before he flipped Tsunade onto her back and picked her up bridal style. Ignoring the woman trying to curse him out, and looking up to the roofs above him, he said "Red Squad, Blue Squad, head back out of town and set up a new chakra perimeter." The squad leaders saluted before the eight clones disappeared. Looking down at Yellow Squad, he said "Yellow Squad, do a sweep around the town for any shinobi chakra presences and then join them." All four clones saluted before they too joined the slipstream and left. Turning around, he said "Green Leader, I want you to bring Shizune with us, Green two and three, go pick up the others and bring them to the room. Green four, I want you to perform a quick check on our guest since he should be waking up in about an hour."

G2 and G3 both nodded before they left while G4 gave a quick salute before he headed out. Green Leader joined the slipstream as well and a second later Shizune suddenly vanished. Tsunade's eyes widened a fraction of an inch before the alley around them suddenly turned into a hotel room with Shizune and the clone already there and the original laid Tsunade down on one of the beds. Her face became marred with an ugly frown as soon as she saw the speed demon's teammates. Her eyebrow momentarily rose as she saw Itachi strapped into a chair reading a book but paid it no attention as she focused more on her teammate.

"Jiraiya, what are you doing here?" Tsunade spat.

"Hello to you too Princess." Jiraiya said with a smirk before he looked to his godson and said with a raised eyebrow "Is there a reason why you were carrying her like that? And why hasn't she strangled you yet?"

Naruto shrugged and said "She didn't want to come quietly so I hit a few of her pressure points."

Jiraiya gave an "Ah." before Green Leader said "Boss, if it's alright with you, I'd like to get back to our sweeps."

The original nodded and gave a dismissive wave of his hand and Green Squad joined the slipstream to go back to the objective they were created for. Jiraiya frowned as he looked at where the clones had been before he faced the original and said "You're going to have one hell of a headache when that squadron of yours dispels."

The original shrugged and said "Not really, they each create and dispel each day and the memories aren't that unique so I can easily just file them away. It's not like they're constantly fighting twenty four seven in a war or anything."

Jiraiya's answer was cut off by Tsunade as she said "I don't care what's going on here, but if one of you doesn't get rid of this paralysis right this instant, I'm going to do it my self and you won't like the results!"

Naruto snorted and said "We both know you're bluffing Lady Tsunade. I specifically hit the points that you can't alter with chakra like a medic nin such as yourself would do. And we wouldn't do so anyway since you would just trash this room trying to beat us to a pulp and we would most likely have to foot the bill. So why don't you just lay there for the next ten minutes until the paralysis goes away on its own and use that time to cool your head so we can actually have a decent conversation."

Shizune, Jiraiya and Haku all stared at Naruto with various levels of disbelief on their faces. 'Does he have death wish?!' Haku and Shizune thought while Jiraiya suddenly smirked and thought 'Ah Naruto, you've got balls of adamantine my young protégé.'

Tsunade seemed to be surprised that the blond would dismiss her so easily before she snarled and her chakra surged as she tried to remove the paralysis on her own thinking that there was a slim chance that the blond had actually hit the wrong points for her arms. But true to Naruto's word, nothing happened since he had accurately hit the right points in just the right way to give her limbs full temporary paralysis. Didn't stop her from trying though as her chakra continued to surge. Or at least it did for thirty seconds before Naruto let loose with his presence and Tsunade suddenly found herself drowning in a sea that was in the middle of a raging storm while the younger blond merely watched..

Two minutes later, the presence ended and Tsunade began gasping for breath, her chest heaving as she tried to get air in her lungs as her body registered the fact that there was actually air around her. As she stared at Naruto in shock due to the fact the last time she had encountered a presence user was over two decades ago, Naruto crossed his arms and said "Now that we've got that pointlessness over, do you think we could actually have a civilized conversation?"

A nod was his answer and Jiraiya drew attention to himself as he said "Good, because we've got a lot to talk about."

Time Skip: Two Hours Later Weary Walker's Roof Top

Naruto stood on the rooftop of the hotel enjoying the view as well as the strong wind that was blowing from the north with his partner standing next to him. Jiraiya and Tsunade were still downstairs, although they were simply reminiscing about old times now. Tsunade didn't put up much of a fight when Jiraiya revealed the scroll that the Hokage had written for her which contained a letter of unknown contents and orders to return to the village. Whatever the letter had said, it seemed to have shifted Tsunade's attitude ninety degrees to the right. She was still a moody lady who hated the lot given to her in life, but she was going to be accompanying them back to the village to take over at the hospital anyway, as well as start up that medic nin project that she had wanted during the last war.

"It'll be good to be back in the village once this is over." Haku said as his eyes closed while a particularly strong wind blew past.

"Yeah, I could use a day of down time where I don't have to worry about anything myself. Two battles against S rank opponents within a couple of weeks of each other is unusual even for me. It will be nice to have a day or two where I don't have anything abnormal going on."

As if he had just tempted fate, Naruto's radio crackled and one of the clones on the perimeter said "This is Red Leader, we've got a bit of a situation here Boss. We're picking up two chakra signatures coming in from the north east, and unfortunately, one of them is very familiar."

Naruto frowned as he pushed the talk button and said "Who is it?"

"Orochimaru. At the pace he and his escort are traveling, he'll be in sight of the village within thirty minutes."

"Understood. Maintain position and stand by for orders." Naruto said before he released the talk button and sighed. Shaking his head, Naruto said "I guess it's just one of those days. Come on. Jiraiya's going to want to know about this."

Five minutes later, Jiraiya was holding the bridge of his nose as he said "First we take on that group from Akatsuki a few days ago, now we've got Orochimaru coming to town. What is this, S-rank get together week?"

"I believe an apt saying for our situation is when it rains, it pours. You have seniority on all counts with this one Jiraiya, how do you want to handle this?" Naruto asked.

Everyone shifted their gazes to the spymaster and he closed his eyes in thought for a brief moment before he opened them again and said "Naruto, Tsunade, you two come with me. Haku, Shizune, you two will stay here while we deal with this." The man waited for the two to nod before he turned to Naruto and said "Alright kid, take us to the perimeter."

Naruto nodded and a split second later the three disappeared. Shizune looked over at the last person in the room in confusion and said "Um, Haku right?" Getting a nod from the Ice user, she said "Why is Itachi Uchiha here?" Haku followed her pointed arm and saw Itachi Uchiha sitting on the chair by the window calmly reading a scroll on high level earth style Ninjutsu given to him by Jiraiya.

Haku sighed before he began explaining what happened two days before the poker tournament.

Scene Change: Chakra Perimeter, Red Leader's Position

Red Leader's eyes shifted to the right as he saw his creator as well as the two members of the Sannin in their group appeared on his right. Jiraiya wasted no time in regaining his senses as soon as they arrived and said "Report."

"Orochimaru and his escort are currently about a quarter of a mile that way, up on the cliff. They've been there for the past six minutes. We've picked up small, nearly undetectable pulses of chakra heading towards the town which leads us to believe that they are actively searching for a chakra signature." The clone frowned as the chakra pulses suddenly stopped and he said "And it seems that they have found whoever they are looking for."

"I have an idea who they're looking for." Jiraiya said as he looked at Tsunade.

Tsunade frowned and said "Any particular reason why he would be looking for me now instead of before?"

"Most likely it's due to those fourth degree burns on his arms, chest, and back I gave the creep during the second part of the Chunnin Exams. Since trace amounts of my chakra were pushed into them, they would be a real bitch to heal since a portion of my chakra is converted tailed beast chakra which is highly corrosive on a good day. First and Second degree burns are tricky, Third and Fourth are pretty much impossible for most people." Naruto said drawing attention from the two Sannin.

Tsunade's mind was already involuntarily going through different ways she could possibly try to heal such a burn even as she thought that her traitorous teammate deserved worse. Jiraiya though was putting that information under what to expect in the upcoming fight. A moment later, he said "Alright, since Orochimaru most likely knows Naruto and I are here, we're not going to try any fancy sneak around then ambush plans. Instead we're going to smash up against them as fast as possible. Naruto, I want you to bring me and Tsunade within ten feet of the person who is escorting Orochimaru. We'll deal with him or her until you finish your part. As soon as you let us go, I want you to take Orochimaru out of the equation as best as you can. Preferably leaving him in as many pieces as possible, the smaller the better."

Naruto nodded and the three were gone from the area. Red Leader watched his creator rush towards Orochimaru's position and thought 'Go get 'em Boss.'

With Orochimaru

Orochimaru had no warning when his two teammates and the only SS ranked shinobi currently in existence made their entry. There was no chakra cloud preceding them indicating possible faster than the eye could see travel around them. No killing intent telling him someone wanted him dead. There was just their presences just over a quarter of a mile away one moment, and the next split second, they were right on top of him with him encased in a cylinder shaped mass of wind chakra held by Naruto who had a rather grim smile on his face as he said "No escaping this time." The blond then proceeded to pick the man up off of the ground and _shake_ the canister of cutting chakra like a drink mixer at a cantina.

_Imagine being stuck inside of a cylinder shaped cheese grater with holes so small, they were pretty much made to shred on an atomic level. The pieces holding these graters are constantly pressing up against you, adjusting themselves to your shape even as they cut into you, efficiently tearing you apart atom by atom, until there isn't anything left, no blood splatter, no mist, nothing, just a bit of multicolored gas that is rapidly dispersed into the air leaving no trace of you ever existing._

In two point four seconds, Naruto had coated his arms with the Uzumaki multicolored chakra and shook the container as fast as he could causing the wind natured chakra inside to shred Orochimaru on such a small level, it looked like Orochimaru had actually joined the slipstream and fled the area.

Sighing as he released the wind natured chakra in front of him, Naruto thought 'One more S rank to report killed when we get home.'

With Kabuto

Kabuto Yakushi, former Root agent, spy for the Akatsuki, and Orochimaru's second hand man was in shock. He had just seen a Leaf nin that was younger than him completely erase all traces of the man he had given his entire loyalty to.

As a shocked "Lord Orochimaru." made it's way out of his mouth, only combat instincts honed from years of being behind enemy lines saved him as his gut told him to MOVE YOU IDIOT! Listening to it, Kabuto stumbled in a backwards jump that held none of his usual grace barely keeping his body from becoming a pile of goo in the crater Tsunade caused when she tried to take advantage of his shocked state.

Those same instincts shouted at him again and he rapidly substituted himself with a log from the nearby forest, thereby avoiding the Rasengan that Jiraiya had tried to shove into his chest when he came bursting out of the debris cloud.

Now temporarily out of his shock due to the combat situation, Kabuto snarled as his hands lit up in the green glow of activated chakra scalpels and he launched himself at Jiraiya with the intent of doing major damage clear on his face. But before he could actually get in range for an attack, he was suddenly clothes lined by Naruto who appeared on his left with his right arm already against the medic nin's throat.

Standard POV

Naruto watched Kabuto's eyes widen as he proceeded to slam into the ground with a detached sense of amusement. Looking down at the spy who was currently clutching his throat and coughing as he tried to get air through via medical chakra, he said "Kabuto, why am I not surprised? You know, you always rubbed me the wrong way whenever I came across you during my supply runs for the hospital. Unfortunately, someone simply rubbing you the wrong way isn't enough to get a guy under interrogation or even put under watch, and you never actually gave away anything that I could use as evidence against you."

Kabuto's breathing had returned to normal and his hand left his now fully healed throat as he said "Then it is a good thing I was well trained in not leaving any evidence."

His eyes widened in pain as a kunai dug into both of his arms and feet burying themselves to the hilt as Naruto calmly said "How good were you trained in removing objects from your limbs without use of your hands or feet?" Gesturing to the seal tags tied to the handles of the kunai, he said "Those things negate any kind of chakra they come into contact, sealing off the source even after they've been removed." Naruto's calm look never left his face as he said "I'm sure Ibiki and Anko are going to have so much fun with you when we get back to the village."

Kabuto glared at the blond as he said "You're precious village will not be able to hold me. One day I will escape, and when I do I will burn the village down for what you did to Lord Orochimaru."

Naruto's eyes narrowed a fraction as he said "If that day ever comes Kabuto, you will have a lot more to worry about then trying to destroy one of the Great 5. But for now, enjoy our hospitality for a while." And with that as the end of the conversation, Naruto flickered and Kabuto's head fell back as he left the world of the wakening with a bruise on his forehead showing where Naruto had knocked him out.

Time Skip: Two Hours Later

Itachi Uchiha donned the Weasel Anbu mask that he had kept even after leaving the village as he stood inside Green Squad's diamond formation. His rather rare and what he had previously believed untreatable chakra disease had been treated by Tsunade just an hour ago and he had a relatively common medicine that would help his recovery over the next month. Now, he was heading out to the ruins of the Whirlpool village to join the team of Whirlpool nin who were even now making their way towards the ancient home of the Uzumaki clan with Green Squad acting as escorts until both he and the Uzumaki team reached their destination.

He had been surprised when Naruto had given him the mission and even more surprised when Jiraiya had approved of said mission. He would essentially act as a body guard for the team while they were in the Elemental Nations unless Jiraiya called on his services via two way communications scroll. This would keep him relatively out of the way and safe from any Leaf nin coming upon him while Jiraiya and Naruto had words with the Old Man about possibly clearing his name.

Giving one last nod of thanks to Tsunade and Naruto each, Itachi signaled his readiness and he and Green Squad joined the slipstream and all traces of them vanished. There was silence for ten seconds before Tsunade lightly pushed off of the wall she had been leaning against and said "Well, I guess it's time for us to head back as well."

The others nodded and filed out of the hotel room. Ten minutes later, the group was running at low Jounin speeds towards home.

Scene Change Location: Hidden Rain Village

Nagato Uzumaki, now known only as Pein, stared down at the Hidden Rain Village in deep thought as his Deva path stood on top of his tower. He paid no notice to the rain that continuously fell from the sky, instead focusing on the meeting that had occurred two days ago and its rather sever repercussions.

Two days ago, Zetsu had called for a meeting via astral projection and every key member had answered his call. The plant-man hybrid had then described how the four man team he had sent after the Kyubi Jinchuriki had been pretty much smashed to bits with absolute ease by their target.

That report had shown that it would be damn near impossible to capture the blond alive. If someone could take down four S class missing-nin in less than ten minute and uninjured, then the chances of him being able to take down the rest of them without obtaining any kind of serious injury in the process were very high. So Pein had told the Akatuski to hold off from collecting the rest of the jinchuriki for a couple of years and instead focus on obtaining funds and training as much as possible. Hopefully it would drive the jinchuriki into a false sense of security and they could take him down in a trap of some sort.

Still, the fact that Kisame and Itachi were captured, not killed did not bear well for Akatuski's plans. Plans of removing them from any position of informing the Leaf Village about Akatuski would have to be formed rapidly. Fortunately, the two would be able to hold out on giving Intel for quite a while.

Sarutobi: Next Time on Flash Fire, Jiraiya and his team return to the Leaf Village with Kisame and Kabuto in tow. But the forces of the Hidden Sound Village and the Akatsuki want their agents back and the Sound is willing to go to any means necessary to retrieve their 2iC.


	20. REALLY UNFORTUNATE AN

(Apparent) Computer Suicide

Hey guys, bad news I'm afraid. It would seem that my laptop has decided to end it's life because I just tied to turn it on and the light at the bottom didn't even turn on. Which really sucks because I had finally passed the five page mark on my Time Traveling Prince chapter that I had been having so much trouble with. And since I can't transfer anything to my new desktop without it on, all of my current stories are going to have to be put on hiatus of an unknown time until I can get THAT worked out at the computer store. Still, I'm not about to leave you hanging if I can help it, so keep an eye out for a little something that I just thought of two days ago. FE Awakening fans will probably get a kick out of this one I'm sure: Lv. 20 Grandmaster Sasuke Uchiha.


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